On the Wings of Change
by Pigeon Parks
Summary: Hollis Potter always knew that she was a little different than the other eleven year olds. She just never realized how different she was. AU Girl!Harry Potter
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Enter Hollis Potter, the Girl Who Lived

It was safe to say that Petunia Dursley hadn't been happy when she found her sister's daughter on her front steps. She had been retrieving the milk bottles and had nearly trodden on the small bundle of blankets. She had been curious at first- almost angry at how someone had left their child on a stoop, her stoop no doubt- but that had quickly morphed into absolute horror and rage when she got a good look at the child's face.

She had screamed loudly and shrilly causing the child to wake up and start wailing. The screaming and the wailing combined most likely woke the whole neighborhood at the time, but she hadn't cared. All she had wanted to know was why the Potter's daughter- never her niece- was laying on the front porch. When her husband had come down the stairs, bed headed and very ruffled, Petunia had already taken the wailing child into the house, holding her like a bomb that was ready to go off. Vernon Dursley, her husband, had spotted the letter that had been resting on the stoop and picked it up, opening it. He had nearly dropped it in severe fright.

The letter, the one that changed their lives forever, explained that her sister, the freak she was, and her abnormal husband with the horrid shaggy hair had been murdered. Blown up. Their daughter, Hollis, had survived. She was to live with them until she was ready to take her rightful place in the Wizarding World.

Vernon and Petunia looked at each other, their faces mirroring their looks of disgust. The child had still been crying, though not as loudly. They had found out then that Hollis could self sooth herself, unlike their son, Dudley, but that hardly mattered to them. What did matter to them was that they, of all people, had to take her in, the abomination.

Though, there was a reason for this. It said in The Letter, as it was later called, that Hollis was different and needed protection. She may have survived an attack from the Dark Lord What's-His-Face and defeated him in the same night, but his followers could be just as terrible as the Dark Lord had been. There had been something in there about Blood Wards and even though Vernon didn't understand it, Petunia did. As much as it pained and angered her, it sometimes did help when your sister was a witch.

There was also another reason for leaving the obviously magical child on Number 4 Privet Drive's stoop, one that nearly made Petunia pitch the year old child out the door. But that reason was hardly discussed in the Dursley household. It was a taboo subject, even when Vernon and Petunia were alone.

Years had passed and they had tried to keep Hollis as downtrodden as possible. Vernon was hoping that if she was 'raised' right, they would squash the magic right out of her but Petunia knew better. The child's oddball father had an oddball family and if anything, her freakish sister was just as weird. Besides, once you're born with the ability to do magic, you can't do anything short of murder to get rid of it.

They had hidden her from the public eye, frightened that someone would spot something abnormal about her. But on the surface, Hollis was normal girl, save for the fact that she was much too small for her age and bruised from all the fights she got into with Dudley. But even so, people voiced that there was something strange about her and that made the Dursley's go into a frenzy of mass hysteria. They never beat the girl- they were too frightened of the repercussions of beating an untrained witch- but they had certainly neglected her, making her live in a cupboard and locking her in there without food when 'funny things' happened.

They had nearly died when she first showed the signs of magic. She had gotten angry- she had temper like a ticking atomic bomb sometimes- and Vernon's wine glass had shattered spectacularly, creating a shower of sparkling glass and deep red wine. She had been three or four at the time and to make matters even worse, Vernon's sister Marge had been there at the table with them. She hated Hollis, she made that abundantly clear, but she hadn't put the blame on her for that particular incident. They had punished her severely for that.

Another incident involved Dudley, Hollis, and, from what Dudley said, a fire. No one had been hurt and since Dudley had a tendency to blow things way out of proportion, especially when it came to his cousin, they hadn't punished her for it. They had seen the newly formed bruise on Hollis's cheek and assumed that Hollis had gotten defensive and had started a small fire that refused to burn anything- this was thanks to her 'special abilities' that the Dursley's refused to talk about for it made the freak even freakier- in her fright. She had been five.

When Hollis started school with Dudley, the Dursley's had been beside themselves. Not many things happened at school, thank God, but there were some incidents that made heads turn. She had once turned a teacher's wig blue and had 'jumped' onto the school roof when Dudley and his friends had chased her. Otherwise, every other magical catastrophe happened in the Dursley household. The catastrophes themselves only happened when Hollis was angry or scared so, once again, the Dursley's kept Hollis as downtrodden as possible.

However, as Hollis grew older, she grew more defiant, something that scared them beyond all reason. She could read them like a book and she knew that she scared them but never knew why. She never knew what had truly happened to her parents- the Dursley's told her that they had been killed in a car crash-, she never knew her true heritage as a witch, she didn't know how she really got the lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead- they told her she got it from the car crash-, and she certainly didn't know that she was revered in the Wizarding World.

But, what she did know was that she was different. The girl wasn't stupid. Far from it, in fact, for she could be terribly clever when she wanted to be. But this fact she found out for herself. She probably never knew how she was different but she knew that she was different.

The Dursley's had never told her anything. They had forbidden her to ask questions. If she did, she would be sent to her cupboard.

Too soon came Dudley's eleventh birthday and inadvertently Hollis's birthday as well. Soon, they would find out if strange little Hollis Potter would live up to her name. And Petunia found herself hoping, for the girl's sake surprisingly, that she didn't.

***

3


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I forgot to do a disclaimer on the prologue so, here it is. I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!!!! JK ROWLING DOES!!! Besides, if I owned Harry Potter, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Hedwig, Fred, Colin, and all else who died (besides Voldemort) wouldn't have died...

Yeah, so here it is. Enjoy.

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Chapter One- Of Birthdays and Pythons

Ten year old Hollis Potter had known since day one that she was different. Maybe it had something to do with her ability to manipulate the elements- mainly fire- to her will. Maybe it was her ability to 'see' the color of people's souls, sense emotions, or hear people's thoughts in her head. Maybe it was her knack of making strange things happen when she was angry or scared, like the time she had turned the teacher's wig blue when she was embarrassed.

Whatever it was, it made Hollis different and that annoyed her to no end.

She sighed heavily in her head- she had learned very early on that it was not wise to wake the Dursley's so early. She was well aware that it was early but how early it was she didn't know. It was better if she just waited until her Aunt Petunia came down to 'wake' her.

Hollis had actually been awake for little over an hour. She had grown so accustomed to waking early that she sometimes woke very early of her own free will, something that boggled her mind. This internal alarm clock of hers had been triggered prematurely most likely because of the dream she had been having. It had been a good if not interesting dream. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. And a giant.

Hollis smiled briefly as she brought one of her thin arms out from underneath her head. She cupped her hand and almost instantly, a small multicolored flame formed in her hand. She watched it flicker for a minute before she curled her hand into a fist and extinguished the flame.

She loved doing that- something was just so fascinating about the flames themselves- even though it was one of the things that made her different from the other kids. She had once believed that other children could do that. Hollis barely held back a snort. Judging by how badly Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had reacted about the Fire Incident when she was five, she finally figured out that not many people could do that.

Oh yes, she was aware that she was one in a million in the worst possible way in the worst possible spot.

Feeling slightly dejected and very agitated, Hollis pulled out her sketchbook from underneath a very old moldy brown jumper. After pushing a couple spiders off the cover she opened it up to a particular page that had been dog-eared. It was a half drawn picture of the giant on the motorbike. She had been having that particular dream for months now and had felt compelled to draw it. She hoped she would finish it soon.

Her sketchbook was not actually a sketchbook. It was an unlined diary and Hollis had found it in the trash, unused. She had jumped at the chance and took it. The book was filled to the bursting of pictures of everything from her dreams to the spiders in her cupboard. She had grown to be quite the artist and most of the pictures she drew were very life like. She loved to draw. It was a release in many ways and after ten years of living in an environment where her own relatives neglected her, a release is what she needed. Drawing- books as well- had a calming effect on her, just as food, presents, and the Television were for Dudley, her fat cousin.

Hollis gripped her sketchbook tighter in a bid to hold in her laughter as she thought of Dudley. His mother always said Dudley looked like a baby angel. Hollis always thought Dudley looked like a pig that stood upright and had hair.

There wasn't much to finish in the picture. Other than shading in some areas, the sketch was complete.

Hollis managed to locate a very small pencil stub underneath a couple of library books. Hollis made a mental note to return those as soon as she could. She shaded a few areas of the giant's face and clothing. Much of the man was muted and blurred. She couldn't really remember what he looked like exactly but Hollis thought she had done well considering.

She heard the Dursley's move around above her head. With a few more pencil strokes, Hollis closed the sketchbook with a disdainful look on her face. She knew exactly what day it was and how she hated it. Don't get her wrong, she was a very kind person with a sarcastic sense of humor a mile wide but she hated this particular day and for good reason.

Aunt Petunia bustled down the stairs first. She came to a stop right outside of Hollis' cupboard. Hollis braced herself for the first sound of the day, always piercing, always shrill.

"Up! Get up! Are you up?!" Aunt Petunia said sharply. Hollis winced despite herself. Her aunt had a very highly pitched voice. Even through the door, Hollis could see the sickening carnation pink that was Aunt Petunia's aura. It was flecked with red and midnight blue, a sure sign that she was very stressed.

"Yes," Hollis replied dutifully as she pulled on her clothes quickly.

"Hurry up! You need to cook breakfast for Dudley's birthday," Aunt Petunia hissed unpleasantly. Hollis repressed the urge to sigh. Dudley's birthday was a sacred event in the Dursley household. They spoiled Dudley even more than usual and this usually caused problems for Hollis. Dudley loved to torment Hollis and bragging to her about how many presents he got was a surefire way of getting Hollis's blood boiling. It wasn't her fault that her parents had died in a car crash and that she ended up with the Dursley's.

Hollis finished dressing- she wore a very ancient looking pink and yellow striped turtle neck, a denim overall dress about two sizes two big for her over the shirt, and a pair of knee high socks. This outfit made her look younger than she really was but it was the nicest thing she owned and she knew that Aunt Petunia would throw a fit if, God Forbid, Hollis wore a pair of jeans- again, two sizes two large- and an old sweatshirt.

Hollis walked into the kitchen, the smell of cooking bacon wafting throughout the house. Hollis found her aunt fussing over a pan of bacon. When she realized Hollis was in the room, she pushed Hollis over to the stove.

"Finish the bacon and try not to burn anything. I want everything to be perfect, for my Dudley's special day!" Aunt Petunia growled as she whisked off to put the finishing touches on Dudley's very immense stack of presents. Uncle Vernon lumbered in not a moment later, carrying a newspaper. His aura was a much calmer shade of gray, showing his boring if not slightly good tempered mood, flecked with bright orange. He was displeased with something, or rather, someone.

He sat down at the table, took one good look at Hollis and barked, "Comb your hair!"

Ah. That was what he was displeased with.

It was Uncle Vernon's way of saying 'Good Morning' to Hollis. Hollis's hair was extremely messy and it was a source of constant annoyance to him. She couldn't help it. Her hair would stick up at the oddest angles and no matter what she did to it, it would remain stubbornly messy.

Finally, Dudley managed to make an appearance just as Hollis was setting down the plates of bacon and eggs. It was rather difficult. Most of the table was obscured by thirty some odd presents for Dudley. Dudley's aura was the same as ever. Shades of silver and light gray mixed with blue sparkled merrily in front of Hollis's eyes. He was happy obviously.

Hollis sat down with the rest of the family as Dudley started counting his presents. This was one of the two reasons Hollis couldn't stand Dudley's birthday. He would always throw a fit whenever he didn't get as many presents as he wanted.

Dudley was a very fat boy who was more brawn than brains. He had a thick head that was topped in equally thick blonde hair. He had watery blue eyes that keenly resembled Uncle Vernon's eyes. He hated all exercise, unless it had something to do with punching Hollis. He was a bully if there ever was one and Hollis often found herself reading Dudley's emotions just to see if he was planning to torture her. He hated anyone that didn't go along with him but that event was very rare. No one liked to mess with Dudley, save Hollis.

Uncle Vernon was very large- his son had inherited many of his attributes- and beefy, with a thick dark mustache. He had very little neck and hated anything and everything that seemed slightly out of the ordinary. He was a practical man but he had quite a temper. He was stern with everyone around him- including his beloved son and wife at times- and was downright hostile towards Hollis sometimes.

Aunt Petunia was the complete opposite of her husband. She was whipcord thin and resembled a horse more than anything. She had a neck that was twice the normal length and was always pursing her lips. Her blonde hair was cut in a bob and she rarely did anything to it. She wore no makeup, except to lavish dinner parties. She loved to gossip and spy on people and often did that when she was alone. She wasn't as hostile to Hollis as Uncle Vernon was, but you could tell that she wasn't fond of her. She loved to dote on Dudley and often treated him like a little princeling.

Hollis looked nothing like the family. She was very thin and small and Hollis thought that her size had something to do with living in a dark cupboard. She had thick, wavy, short-ish dark black hair that was perpetually messy and bright green eyes. She wore oval shaped glasses that were far too big for her and were always sliding down her nose. They were held together by a lot of Scotch tape. Her skin was completely unblemished save for a thin lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead and a smattering of freckles on her nose.

This scar was a source of questioning for Hollis. Aunt Petunia had told her that she had gotten it in the car crash that killed her parents but Hollis felt that she had gotten her scar from a different source.

Dudley had finished counting his presents and he didn't look happy. Hollis opened up her mind very briefly and was met with angry vibes coming off of Dudley. His aura was changing from its normal silvery gray tones to a fierce red. Hollis began to eat very fast.

"There's thirty six; that's two less than last year," Dudley commented angrily.

"Sweetums, you haven't counted the one from Auntie Marge. It's under the table next to the big one from Mummy and Daddy," Aunt Petunia simpered.

"Fine then, thirty-seven!" Dudley exclaimed going very red with anger. Hollis started inhaling her bacon faster than ever and she tensed up. She didn't want Dudley to waste her bacon if he turned the table over. And besides, she may have been able to avoid Dudley's wrath before- Hollis was very fast, contrary to her starved and weak appearance- but she wasn't sure how fast she could move out of the way if Dudley turned the table over.

Aunt Petunia could scent a Dudley Tantrum almost as well as she could spot a speck of dirt on the pristine linoleum floor. She recovered very quickly. "And we'll get you two new presents when we go out today, popkin. How does that sound?" Aunt Petunia said.

Dudley's face twisted in concentration. "So, I'll have thirty… thirty…" he said, not quite figuring out the simple addition problem. Hollis kept her eyes on her plate. She couldn't quite trust herself to look at him.

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," Aunt Petunia said lovingly. Appeased, Dudley sat down and alternated between opening his presents and eating his breakfast. After Dudley had just finished pulling the paper off a brand new computer, three new computer games, and a racing bike- this present confused Hollis to no end seeing how Dudley hated exercise unless it involved Hollis Hunting, a game of his own invention but not very good at due to Hollis's speed-, the phone rang and Aunt Petunia bustled off to go answer it. She appeared a moment later looking like she swallowed a lemon and was sprayed in the face by a skunk.

"Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg's broken her leg and she can't take her," Aunt Petunia said sounding like a petulant child while jerking her head in Hollis's general direction.

Hollis's heart leapt within her chest. The other reason why she hated Dudley's birthday was because every year, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would take Dudley and a friend to a place to celebrate his birthday. The places consisted of burger joints, adventure parks, the movies… the list was extensive. However, instead of bringing Hollis along with them, they left her with the crazy cat loving old neighbor, Mrs. Figg. Hollis didn't like it there. There were too many cats and Mrs. Figg spent too much time talking about cats and showing her pictures of her cats. If Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, that could mean that they would take her with them!

But then again, it was highly unlikely.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the girl."

Hollis paid no mind to how her aunt and uncle were referring to her. It happened far too often for her to grow indignant about it now.

"What about your friend… uh…. Yvonne?"

"She's on vacation in Majorca!"

"You could just leave me here," Hollis supplied. If she couldn't go with them, the second best thing would be to leave her at Number Four.

"And come back to find the house in shambles? Absolutely not!" Uncle Vernon said vehemently. Aunt Petunia nodded darkly but distractedly.

"We could bring her with us I suppose, and leave her in the car…" Aunt Petunia said after a long silence.

"That car's new, I don't want it destroyed."

Dudley began to cry and Hollis found herself very, very exasperated. Dudley hadn't cried in years but if there was anything that would make his mother and father bend over backwards and spit nickels for their son, it was his tears. Aunt Petunia immediately went over to Dudley and wrapped her arms around her immense son.

"Oh, Diddykins, don't cry!" she cried.

"I don't want h-her t-to c-come! She a-always r-r-ruins e-e-everything!" Dudley sobbed. Hollis caught him sneering at her when his mother wasn't looking and she didn't have to open her mind again to see that Dudley's aura was pulsating devious purple. She tried to keep herself calm, but was failing miserably at it. Why did Dudley get to her like that?

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and everyone went silent.

"Good Lord! They're here!"

Somehow, after a few minutes that felt like a long while, Hollis found herself in the back seat of the Dursley's car with Dudley and his friend Piers Polkiss, speeding towards the London Zoo.

She hoped that her strangeness wouldn't mess this up.

***

For the first time in her life, Hollis found herself enjoying Dudley's birthday. The cheap lemon ice pop she had gotten by pure luck hadn't been half bad, the Zoo was amazing and Dudley and Piers hadn't beaten her up yet. She even got to finish Dudley's ice cream at lunch!

It was a perfect day and Hollis hoped that it would never end.

However, you could never have too much of a good thing.

When they entered the Reptile House, Dudley and Piers rushed off to find the biggest snake in the place leaving Hollis behind with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. Not wanting to be stuck with her horrid relatives, Hollis walked after them at a much more sedated pace. She found them staring at the largest Burmese Python- it was the only Python- she had ever seen. They were wearing expectant looks on their faces. But the Python didn't budge.

Dudley rapped on the glass hard while yelling, "Move!" Hollis glared at him. She knew what it was like to be yelled at while enjoying a nice sleep. It wasn't pleasant. She had half a mind to tell Dudley that, but he desisted from trying to annoy the snake after a couple minutes.

"This is boring," Dudley said with a whine and he and Piers stalked off. Hollis pulled a face. How would he feel if children of all ages ogled at him all day long? She would be a little bored and listless herself.

"You must get that all the time," Hollis murmured. The snake opened his eyes and stared at her. Then it winked.

Hollis's eyes widened and her glasses slid down her nose. "Can you hear me?" she asked in an awed voice.

The snake rose till he was level with her eyes. The snake nodded.

"I've never talked to a snake before. Do you… do you talk to people often?" Hollis asked. The snake shook his head no. Hollis felt the sudden urge to giggle. How weird was this? She was talking to a snake and the snake was answering back.

"You're from Brazil, aren't you? Do you miss home? Do you miss your family?" Hollis asked. The snake jerked his tail towards the sign next to his enclosure. The sign read, 'Born in Captivity'. Hollis stared at the Python sadly.

"I see. That's the same with me. I never knew my parents either," Hollis said. Suddenly, a voice, a voice that she had no desire to hear, cried out, "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS SNAKE IS DOING!"

Piers and Dudley rushed back to the Python's enclosure and Dudley shoved Hollis roughly aside. She hit the floor hard and her breath left her lungs. She propped herself up and stared angrily at the two.

Then the strangest thing happened.

The glass holding the snake inside _disappeared_.

Dudley and Piers flew back in fright as the Python slithered onto the cold stone floor next to Hollis.

"Brazil, here I come… Thankssss amiga," the snake hissed to her. Hollis smiled lopsidedly in sudden fearful giddiness.

"Any time," she replied.

The snake slithered away, sending the place into an uproar. Hollis looked again. The glass was there. But how had it disappeared in the first place? Hollis didn't have time to dwell on that. They were evacuated from the Reptile House moments later.

Luckily, everyone was unharmed and the only thing the snake had actually done was snap at people's heels, his own version of a joke. But Piers and Dudley were swearing that the snake had tried to take their heads off. The Zoo manager had apologized profusely to them and made Aunt Petunia tea.

"But the glass, where did the glass go?" he kept asking. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon stared at Hollis and Hollis felt herself go red in the face. They had left moments later.

When Piers and Dudley had finally calmed down enough to string coherent words together, Piers spoke the words that put the icing on the cake of doom for Hollis.

"You were talking to the snake weren't you Hollis?"

Hollis really hated being different.

11


	3. Chapter 3

Hey. I don't own Harry Potter. The usual. J.K. Rowling does.

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Chapter Two- Of Letters and Giant Men

Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and around the time that Hollis was finally allowed out of her cupboard, the summer holidays had already begun.

It had been the lengthiest punishment she had ever had in her ten years at the Dursley's and that was saying something. Hollis sighed as she got up on a bright Saturday before her nose was assaulted with a horrid smell. She scrunched up her nose, half repulsed and half mystified by the smell.

Slightly curious and quite nauseous, Hollis got up and left her cupboard and she walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making?" Hollis asked slowly to Aunt Petunia, making her jump. Hollis had that effect on people. No one could tell when she was behind them. Or in front of them or even in the same room as her for that matter.

"Your new school uniform," Aunt Petunia said tersely, setting her lips in a fine line like she did when Hollis asked questions. Hollis crinkled her nose. In the fall, she would be attending the local public secondary school, Stonewall High. This was a momentous moment for Hollis when she heard for that meant she wouldn't have to go to school with Dudley for the first time. He would be attending Uncle Vernon's old school, Smelting's, an all boy's private school. It was her dream come true.

"Oh. I didn't realize it had to be so wet," Hollis said before she could stop herself.

"Don't be stupid. I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old clothing and my old skirts grey, so you'll look like everyone else in the school. Now, stop asking questions!" Aunt Petunia snapped.

Hollis doubted that she would look like everyone else. Aunt Petunia may have been bony, but her skirts came well past Hollis's knees and as for Dudley's old clothing… well, it would look like Hollis was wearing elephant skin or something.

A couple of moments later, Dudley and Uncle Vernon walked in, just as Hollis started breakfast. Their noses were crinkled in disgust. Dudley was wearing his Smelting's uniform and this included the hated Smelting's Stick that he now brought everywhere with him. The knobby sticks were used in the school to hit each other with while the teachers weren't looking. They thought it was good training for life. Hollis hardly agreed. She had lost count at thirty when she counted the bruises on her shins.

Breakfast was a silent affair for Hollis but she didn't mind. The less that she had to talk to the Dursley's the better. During breakfast came the telltale whoosh of the mailman slipping the mail into the slot.

"Dudley, go get the mail," Uncle Vernon said while stabbing a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Make Hollis get it," Dudley whined in return.

"Hollis, get the mail."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Dudley, whack her with your Smelting's Stick."

While narrowly avoiding the Smelting's Stick, Hollis scurried into hallway and bent down the get the mail that was lying in a neat pile on the mat. There was a postcard from Aunt Marge who was taking a vacation to the Island of Wight, a large bill that was addressed to Uncle Vernon, and a letter for Hollis.

Hollis did a double take. A letter? For her?

She had never gotten mail before, not even rude notes asking for overdue books back from the library. But there was no mistaking who it was addressed to for it read, Ms. H. Potter, the Cupboard under the Stairs, Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. And it wasn't exactly an ordinary letter either. It was made of heavy parchment and the lettering was written in emerald green ink. She turned it over to look for a return address. There was nothing on the back except for a coat of arms with a large 'H' in the middle surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake.

"What's taking you so long, girl?! Are you checking for letter bombs or something?" Uncle Vernon yelled from the kitchen, stopping for a moment to laugh at his own joke. Hollis came back into the kitchen, gave the bill and postcard to Uncle Vernon but kept her letter for herself. Uncle Vernon never noticed this transaction but Dudley did, however.

Before Hollis got a chance to open her letter, Dudley grabbed it and yelled, "Dad, Hollis got a letter!"

"Hey! Give that back, it's mine!" Hollis yelped despite knowing the futility of the situation. Uncle Vernon was laughing lightly and he had a slightly disbelieving look on his face.

"Who would be writing to you?" he sneered but he took one look at the letter and paled.

"P-Petunia!" he stuttered. Aunt Petunia came over, studied the letter and went stark white.

"Vernon! Oh, my God, Vernon!" she sputtered. Hollis stared. What was going on?

"Out, both of you out!" Uncle Vernon roared. Dudley, not used to this sort of treatment, stayed in his spot and Hollis stood her ground.

"I want to read it," Dudley whined.

"I want to read it, seeing as it is mine," Hollis snapped.

"GET OUT!!" Uncle Vernon screeched while taking them both by their collars- this was quite a feat seeing how Hollis was hoisted up a good three feet and Dudley at least a foot- and throwing them into the hallway. He shut the door and after a silent skirmish between Hollis and Dudley, Hollis found herself on the floor listening at the door crack while Dudley listened at the keyhole.

"Vernon, how do they know where the child sleeps? Surely they're not watching the house." That was definitely Aunt Petunia. Hollis could just make out hints of fearful white mixed in with nervous bright green.

"I wouldn't put it past them. Watching us, following us, maybe even spying!" That was Uncle Vernon. His aura was blinking with wild red-orange and crazed imperial yellow. Aunt Petunia gasped audibly.

"Should we… send a reply… telling them no…?"

"No, we can't do that. You know their type, Petunia. It's best that we don't say anything at all."

"But Vernon…"

"No, Petunia! We've been through this before! I'm not having one in the house! We swore when we took the girl in that we'd stamp out all this nonsense!"

And that was the end of that conversation.

***

The rest of the day passed by in an agonizingly slow fashion for Hollis. She couldn't seem to focus on anything, even sketching and reading couldn't distract her, and her thoughts kept flitting back to the letter from no one. Who had sent the letter and why did Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon react so violently to it? Thoughts kept whirring around in Hollis's head at a million miles per hour, so it wasn't a wonder she couldn't concentrate on anything.

By the time Uncle Vernon got home that day, Hollis had retreated within herself in a sense to sort out her thoughts. When she sensed Uncle Vernon outside her cupboard door, she came out of her reverie but wasn't too surprised. This happened quite a lot. He would stand in front of the cupboard door just to make sure she was quiet but still in there at the same time. However, he did something that was so completely out of character that it nearly blew Hollis off her feet, figuratively.

He came to visit her.

"Um, yeah, Hollis, I've been meaning to talk to you. How would you like to move into Dudley's second bedroom? I daresay that this cupboard is getting a bit small for you," he said nervously, as if unsure of what to say. Hollis gaped stupidly at him, almost amazed at the fact that he was actually offering to move her into Dudley's second bedroom. Granted, it was more of a command instead of a phrase or question, but Hollis could have cared less.

Hollis nodded and Uncle Vernon smiled forcefully. "Splendid. You can just move this stuff up now," he said, his eye twitching slightly. Hollis could see that he was trying to be friendly but failing.

"Wait, Uncle Vernon… What about my letter?" she asked before he left.

"It was addressed to you by mistake. I have burned it," he said, his eyes shifting to the left. Hollis's own eyes narrowed, knowing that she was being lied to.

"It was not a mistake! It had my cupboard on it!" she said hotly.

"Stop! Now, go move this stuff upstairs," Uncle Vernon commanded, his voice shaking in repressed annoyance and anger. Hollis did as she was told.

***

Dudley kicked up quite a stink about Hollis moving into the second bedroom. He threw a lot of tantrums- all of them varying to chucking his PlayStation out the window to hitting his parents with the Smelting Stick. Most of these tantrums shook the house to its very foundation but Hollis ignored them. He could have his room back, she thought one afternoon when Dudley's tantrums were at their peak. At the moment, all she wanted was to have her letter. She laughed at the irony of the situation. Last week she would have given anything to be up in this room. Now, all she wanted was a stupid piece of parchment.

After a while, Dudley's tantrums died down and he finally accepted the fact that Hollis was staying there. However, even if Dudley's tantrums died down, the letters from no one certainly didn't. They arrived en masse, and, in desperation, Uncle Vernon had boarded up the mail slot.

Despite his efforts, the letters kept coming. And they ended up in the oddest places too. Once, they had ended up folded up in the bathroom window. Another time they had ended up a dozen of eggs. Driven to insanity by the letters, Uncle Vernon boarded up the entire house.

But that still didn't stop them from coming.

It was a Sunday and Hollis was serving cookies in the living room. Uncle Vernon was looking quite ill but quite happy and reading the newspaper while Dudley and Aunt Petunia played a card game. Hollis sent the plate of cookies around for a third time before setting them down on the side table. She placed herself in a corner where she would be the least obtrusive but still had a great view of the neighborhood.

Uncle Vernon chuckled lightly when the time when the mail was delivered to Number 4 came and went.

"A fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, the best day of the week. Why is that Dudley?" he asked happily.

Dudley shrugged, a blank look on his face. Hollis rolled her eyes mentally. "Because there's no post on Sunday?" she asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer. She knew full well why he was in a good mood.

"Right you are Hollis! No letters today!" he said happily. Hollis tuned out the rest of Uncle Vernon's rant and looked out the window. Something very large and brown flew past the window. Hollis blinked, her large green eyes confused. Another something very large passed by the window again and this time, Hollis got a good look at it. It was an owl.

Hollis felt her mouth part slightly. She had never seen an owl before, let alone an owl in broad daylight. She did, however, know that owls were nocturnal creatures and were rarely seen in the daytime. Why were these owls flying around in the daylight?

She didn't have time to ponder her question for something whizzed past Uncle Vernon, efficiently cutting him off. It was a letter. One of Hollis's letters.

The house started to shake and then letters erupted out of the fireplace by the thousands. Dudley and Aunt Petunia started screaming, Uncle Vernon was bellowing like an angered rhinoceros, and Hollis was desperately trying to get a letter. She probably would have succeeded had Uncle Vernon not grabbed her around her middle and hauled her into the foyer, shutting the door behind them.

He was shaking all over and half of his mustache was missing. He looked quite intimidating and Hollis found herself willing that no one did anything stupid, herself included.

"Pack some things. We're leaving," he said, breathing deeply.

It was safe to say that they were all in the car in five minutes.

***

They drove around aimlessly for a while, Uncle Vernon muttering all the while 'Shake 'em off, shake 'em off'. This was quite worrying but no one dared to voice the single thought in everyone's head aloud. Dudley and Hollis for once were on equal footing and more than once, when Uncle Vernon left the car for a few minutes, they would look at each other and agree mentally that Uncle Vernon had completely lost it.

They stayed at a dingy hotel that night but their stay there was very brief seeing how a hundred of the same letters came for Hollis the next morning. They left hurriedly.

They drove in circles it seemed for hours on end and even re-reading the Return of the King for the fifth time running wasn't helping with the boredom and the feeling of apprehension gnawing at Hollis's heart. Hollis kept her mind open- something that she rarely did since all the thoughts and soul-seeing made her head feel like it was in a garbage compressor. Sure, she caught random blips from the people passing by in the cars but she also knew that there was going to be a storm soon. And that Uncle Vernon was looking for a very secluded spot to stay. After two days of traveling in a very random direction, Uncle Vernon parked the car and left without a word.

"I want to go home. The Great Humberto's on now," Dudley whined to his mother only to receive no answer. Hollis blinked a couple of times before looking up from the book Stormbreaker. Normally, Hollis could count on Dudley to know the days of week because of television. If he was right about it being Tuesday, then that meant her birthday was tomorrow.

Hollis sighed mentally and returned to her book. Birthdays were never that important to her for she had never received a birthday card let alone a present in her life unless you counted the coat hanger and a repulsive old pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks she got last year. But still, you didn't turn eleven everyday.

A few moments later, Uncle Vernon reappeared with a large bag and a thin package. "What's that?" Aunt Petunia asked curiously but quietly.

"I've found a place for us to stay! A nice gentleman is lending us his cabin. It's nice and secluded. I've already got us some rations, so we can leave now!" Uncle Vernon said gleefully, completely ignoring Aunt Petunia.

Hollis adopted a very contorted look that couldn't quite decide on which of the two emotions it wanted to show. One emotion was apprehension; the other was nervousness. Whatever got Uncle Vernon into a gleeful mood couldn't be good for anybody, not just Hollis.

The filed out of the car and walked through a very empty campground towards a dock. Hollis felt her heart go into her throat when she saw a tiny house on a very large boulder. She quickly read Uncle Vernon's mind and felt what little she ate turn into rocks in her stomach. Oh, why couldn't they have stayed on the campground?

The boat ride to the shack was blessedly uneventful, and aside from Hollis tripping up the rocky slope, everyone made it into the shack unscathed. Just as they got into the shack, the predicted storm that Uncle Vernon had been thinking about for the past couple of days had started. They settled into the two room shack, ate a frugal dinner- this is where Uncle Vernon made a nasty remark about Hollis's letters when he couldn't get a fire going- and then went to bed.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia went upstairs to sleep in the bed. Dudley was swathed in blankets on the couch, dead asleep. Hollis, on the other hand, was on the hard ground, trying desperately to get comfortable or warm, which ever came first. She was still in her day clothes- a pair of jeans and a large red sweatshirt- since it was nearly impossible to get dressed while Dudley was in the same room as her. She was wrapped up in a thin, moldy blanket and had situated herself in the warmest corner of the room.

She finally gave up on getting warm or comfortable and began staring at Dudley's wrist watch, listening to the rain pound on the water and rocks around them. It was 11:58:045.

Only two minutes away from her birthday.

What did it matter anyway? She wasn't going to get anything for her birthday. No one even remembered her birthday.

It was 11:59:025.

Oh, what the heck? You didn't turn eleven everyday and Hollis would definitely make this a birthday to remember. The only problem was how to make it memorable.

Twenty seconds now…

Maybe she could wake Dudley up, just to annoy him…

Ten seconds…

Maybe she could set his clothes on fire…?

Five seconds…

Or maybe blow his blankets off continually? She could control wind. That would definitely annoying him…

BOOM!!!

Hollis jolted up to her feet. Dudley woke with a start, and said stupidly, "Where's the cannon?!"

"That's not a cannon, idiot!" Hollis hissed contemptuously while simultaneously backing into a shadowed corner. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon came down a moment later, Aunt Petunia hiding behind Uncle Vernon while he brandished a rifle. Hollis stared at the rifle with a look of realization on her face. So that's what had been in the package.

BOOM!!!

"Wh-Who's there?" Uncle Vernon called out meekly sounding eerily like a mouse that had been stepped on. Suddenly, the door was knocked clean off its hinges and all three Dursley's screamed and Hollis only jumped. In walked a man that stood at least twelve feet tall, had a wild mane of shaggy black hair, and wore a huge moleskin coat. He seemed eerily familiar to Hollis but she couldn't place his face anywhere. She didn't have time to ponder that.

"Sorry about that," the giant said while placing the door back into place, cutting off the storm's howling wind and rain.

"You must leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!" Uncle Vernon said bravely. The giant looked at Uncle Vernon with the air of annoyance one showed towards a buzzing mosquito.

He strode over to Uncle Vernon and said, "Dry up Dursley, you great prune!" He grabbed a hold of the rifle and bent it upwards the same time Uncle Vernon tried to fire a shot.

He walked over to the center of the room, where Dudley and Hollis were located. He looked around for a minute, looking slightly appalled when his eyes fell onto Dudley, and smiled when he saw Hollis. Hollis felt herself immediately trust the man. She wasn't sure what made her trust him; she just knew that she should trust him.

She came out from her hiding spot bravely and stood in front of the giant man.

"Blimey, Hollis… You've really grown up… Mind you, I haven't seen you since you were a baby an' all, but…" the giant man said with a warm smile. The man had a strange accent that butchered half of his words and he left off the 's' in 'Hollis' but that made him even more interesting.

"You knew me when I was a baby?" Hollis asked curiously.

"Sure did. Speaking of which, I have somethin' for you. I'm afraid I sat on it at some point, but I imagine it'll taste fine all the same," he said eagerly while pulling out a slightly squashed white box. Hollis took the box and opened it. It contained a chocolate caked covered in pink icing with 'Happy Birthday Hollis' in bright green lettering.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully. The man smiled at her again.

"It's not everyday your young lady turns eleven now is it!" he said happily. Hollis set down the box with deliberate slowness. Was this the man from her dreams…?

"Um, I'm sorry if I sound rude, but… Who are you?" Hollis asked, turning her unnerving emerald green stare onto the giant.

"Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid. Almost everybody at Hogwarts does. And you'll know all about Hogwarts," Hagrid said, completely unaffected by the stare.

Hollis gave him a strange look. What was this man, this Hagrid, talking about?

"Um, I'm sorry? I have no idea what you're talking about," Hollis said confusedly. Now it was Hagrid's turn to be confused. His beetle like eyes shone with questioning.

"You don't know? My God, you don't know, do you? DURSLEY!!" Hagrid bellowed angrily. Hollis whirled around to face her Uncle, who looked like quite a large mouse at the moment. Somehow, Dudley had managed to edge his way closer to Uncle Vernon, his eyes glued onto Hollis's cake. Aunt Petunia was cowering behind Uncle Vernon but something wasn't right. Hollis could feel it in the air. She finally realized that Uncle Vernon was hiding something other than Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

"Do you mean to tell me that this girl doesn't know anything about ANYTHING!?" Hagrid roared.

Hollis bristled slightly when he said that. "Hey, I can do math and read and stuff," she started off hotly. Hagrid silenced her with a wild shake of his great head. "No, not that. You don't know anything about our world, your world, your parents' world," Hagrid growled.

"What world?" Hollis asked exasperatedly.

"No! STOP! I forbid you to tell her!" Uncle Vernon screamed, finally finding his voice.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh… Hollis, you're a witch," Hagrid said finally.

That was the last thing that Hollis expected.

The silence that followed Hagrid's announcement was almost unbearable. It beat down upon Hollis like the water struck against the stone outside, and it rang in her ears. "I'm a what?" she asked slowly, unable to say anything else.

"A witch. And you're a special kind of witch too. You're an Elemental witch. You'll be a thumpin' good one I'd wager, once you're trained up a bit," Hagrid stated proudly. Hollis shook her head in a disbelieving manner. It couldn't be true… it just couldn't be true… She was just Hollis… that strange, freaky girl with the taped up glasses, strange powers and no parents.

"That can't be right," Hollis murmured.

"Have you made anything happen? When you were scared or angry?" Hagrid asked knowingly. Hollis looked at him, an almost awed look in her eye. Hagrid smiled wryly at her while pulling out the letter that Hollis so desperately wanted to see. She opened it and read aloud:

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of all the supplies you will need for the upcoming school year. Send your reply owl by no later that July 31st.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

"I've had enough of this! We swore when we took her in that we would put a stop to all this rubbish!" Uncle Vernon said loudly, spittle flying from his lips.

Hollis rounded on them, her eyes blazing. "You knew? You knew all along and you never told me?" Hollis said heatedly. And surprisingly enough, it was Aunt Petunia who answered.

"Of course we knew! How could you not be? My perfect sister being what she was… Oh, my mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family… isn't it wonderful? I was the only one to see her for what she truly was… A freak! Then she ran off with that Potter and then she had you, I knew you would be just as strange, just as abnormal… Then if you please, she got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!" Aunt Petunia hissed, her face turning scarlet.

"Blown up? You told me my parents died in a car crash!" Hollis screeched.

"A car crash? A car crash?! A car crash kill Lily and James Potter? That's an outrage! A scandal!" Hagrid said hotly. Aunt Petunia mumbled something that sounded like 'We had to tell her something' but Hollis was too angry to care.

"If my parents weren't killed in a car crash, then what did happen to them?" Hollis asked Hagrid, breathing deeply. Hagrid's face fell and he sank down on the vacated sofa.

"I'm not entirely sure that I should be the one to tell you that, Hollis. But since you don't know… Well, if there is one thing that you should understand it's this: Not all wizards are good. About ten years ago, a wizard by the name of V-V… ah, even after ten years, it's still hard to say his name…" Hagrid started out.

"Maybe if you wrote it down," Hollis supplied, wanting to know the rest of the story.

"Nah, I can't spell it. Okay, his name was Voldemort. Those were the dark times, Hollis. Very dark times. In those days, those who didn't support You-Know-Who ended up dead. Your parents fought against him and his values. He tracked them down, broke into the house and killed them. Then he turned his wand onto you, but you didn't die like your parents. Something about you stumped him that night, but whatever it was, it stopped him cold in his tracks, quite literally. That isn't an ordinary cut on your forehead. You can only get a scar like that from a curse and an evil curse at that," Hagrid explained.

"And what happened to Voldemort?" Hollis asked slowly. Hagrid flinched noticeably.

"Don't say his name!" Hagrid said vehemently. Hollis was taken aback at his attitude and slightly confused at the odd behavior he showed towards the name, but obliged.

"Okay, what happened to You-Know-Who?" Hollis asked again.

"He disappeared! Some say he's dead. Codswallop, in my opinion. I think he's out there somewhere, to weak to carry on. But whatever happened that night, you're famous because of it!" Hagrid said. Hollis's eyes widened.

"I'm famous?" she asked quietly. Hagrid nodded, his eyes foggy. He took out a very large- it looked like a picnic blanket- hanky out and dried his eyes. "I'm sorry. I knew yer parents. Couldn't find nicer people… You look a lot like yer dad but you have yer mum's eyes," Hagrid said slowly.

Hollis suddenly remembered something. For years she had believed her memories of bright green flashes and pain in her forehead was attributed to the car accident the Dursley's had said her parents had died in. Now that Hagrid had told her the truth, she remembered something else. She remembered a high, cold, cruel laugh, a laugh that she had no desire to ever hear again.

"Oh, this is all nonsense!" Uncle Vernon roared. Hollis whirled around. They family had been so quiet that she had forgotten that they were there.

"Now, listen here girl. You've got something strange about you, there's no denying that, but your parents… they were weirdoes, and the world's is better off without them. I always knew that they'd meet a sticky end!" Uncle Vernon snarled. Hollis felt her face heat up in a strange combination of anger and embarrassment but Hagrid was just plain annoyed by this time.

"Stop, Dursley. One more word and I'm warning yeh…" Hagrid threatened.

"NO! I won't stop! I'm not sending her off to some FREAK school!" Uncle Vernon screamed.

"Dursley, do you think that a great muggle like you is going to stop her? She's a Potter! She's had her name down in the Hogwarts books since she was born! She'll be with youngsters that are like her for once and she'll be learning things that'll come naturally to her. And she'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumbledore," Hagrid growled convincingly. Hollis wasn't entirely sure what a 'muggle' was but she figured that it was some technical term for a non- magic person.

"I'M NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HER MAGIC TRICKS!" Uncle Vernon bellowed, quite mad.

Hagrid had had enough. He rose from his spot, his aura angry. He was a looming presence in such a small room when he was nice. He was just straight up intimidating when he was angry.

"Don't you ever insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me," he said quietly in a voice that just dared someone to try something. His eyes flicked over to Dudley, who had lost the battle against the lure of Hollis's cake and was eating it fist over fist.

Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella out of nowhere and brought it down with a loud swish. A pig's tail sprouted in the seat of Dudley's trousers. All three Dursley's started screaming loudly and as one body, moved up the stairs and weren't heard from throughout the rest of the night.

"I shouldn't have lost me temper. I was trying to turn him into a pig but… Anyway, you should really try to get some sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow. Here's my coat; you can kip under it," Hagrid said quietly while taking out a piece of parchment and a quill after he started a fire with the pink umbrella.

Hollis took the coat gratefully but nearly dropped it in fright when an owl flew clumsily out of one of the pockets.

_I've gotta get used to all this magic stuff…_ Hollis thought numbly before she fell into a deep and, for the first time in years, contented sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three- Of Alley Ways and Wands

The next morning was hectic, that much was certain. Getting off the rock was easy enough and after promising not to tell anyone that he used magic- Hagrid had been expelled, what for Hollis didn't know-, they made it to shore in record timing. During all this, Hagrid attempted to read the Daily Prophet and give Hollis a crash course in Wizard Culture. Most of the stuff was pretty easy to understand but Hollis learned very early on that wizards and witches weren't like the ones that she read about in books.

Next was getting onto a train for London. This wasn't as bad for Hollis as it was for Hagrid. Being used to the Wizarding ways, Hagrid complained loudly about the trains being slow. Getting off the platform had been difficult because of Hagrid's sheer size.

Getting into London was hard. It was very crowded and Hagrid had to take Hollis's arm more than once to prevent her from getting lost in the swarms of people.

"Okay, so the bank is called Gringotts and it's run by goblins. There are three different coins, galleons, sickles, and knuts. Seventeen silver sickles to a galleon and twenty nine bronze knuts to a sickle, right?" Hollis said to Hagrid over the din.

"That's right. Come on; let's get closer to the sidewalk. We're getting pretty close now," Hagrid said to her. Hollis followed obediently. She wasn't entirely sure what they were looking for but was almost positive that Hagrid knew where he was going.

Suddenly, a dark and rather run down old pub appeared between a book store and a burger place. Hollis gaped openly at it, dimly realizing that only she and Hagrid could actually see it. Hagrid pushed her towards it and they both went inside.

It was very dark indeed inside the pub- the Leaky Cauldron if she read the sign right- and it took a moment for Hollis's eyes to adjust to the lighting. Everyone inside was wearing strangely colored robes and other magic like accessories. The barman- a toothless, balding man who was quite pale- looked over in their direction and smiled and beckoned to Hagrid.

"Hello Hagrid! The usual I presume?" the barman asked good naturedly.

"Not today, Tom. I'm on official Hogwarts business," Hagrid said proudly, clapping a hand on Hollis's shoulder, nearly knocking her over.

Tom nodded and squinted at Hollis. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he said loudly, "Bless my soul! It's Hollis Potter!"

The bar went eerily silent and all heads turned towards them. Hollis felt the sudden urge to hide behind Hagrid as her face went beet red. She wasn't used to this kind of attention. Sure, random people came up to her sometimes- hugged her, bowed to her, waved to her- but this staring, something that she hated with a passion, was quite unsettling for Hollis.

People rushed forward and Hollis was suddenly overwhelmed with people shaking her hands and introducing themselves.

"Doris Crockford Ms. Potter! I can't believe I'm meeting you at last!" one said in an excited voice.

"Dedalus Diggle, at your service!" another said in an awed voice.

Hollis suddenly remembered this man bowing to her in a shop once. He nearly fell over in delight when she voiced this aloud. Doris Crockford came back at least six times to shake her hand and Dedalus Diggle came back a dozen more. Many more came until Hagrid waved them off. Suddenly, a turban bearing man came very close to them and a strange smell graced Hollis's nose. It smelled almost like cooked garlic.

"Hello Professor, I didn't see you there! Hollis, this is Professor Quirrell. He's your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Hagrid said.

"H-Hollis P-Potter, i-it's s-s-so nice t-to m-meet you," he stuttered.

Hollis smiled and held out her hand. "How do you do?" she asked politely. He pointedly ignored her outstretched hand and said in his stuttering voice, "Fearfully f-fascinating subject. N-Not that y-you n-n-need i-it, e-eh P-Potter?"

Hollis smiled brightly. Hagrid chuckled and said, "I think we have to get going, Professor. You know, lots to buy!"

"Bye!" Hollis said to the nervously smiling Professor. She and Hagrid exited out the back door and into a rather cramped Alley.

"You okay Hollis? You look kind of pale," Hagrid asked while producing his pink umbrella.

"Yeah, I'm okay… I guess everything's just really overwhelming right now. I used to be a nobody, you know? It's a big change. Where are we going anyway Hagrid?" Hollis asked.

"You'll see… Now, where is that blasted brick…? Ah, here we are," Hagrid mumbled. He tapped the third brick on the left with the umbrella three times and the brick wiggled. All of the bricks started trembling and shifting until the barrier was completely gone. Before them was a very crowded Alley lined with small shops that just reeked with magic.

Hollis felt her mouth drop open unceremoniously. Hagrid chuckled. "Welcome, Hollis, to Diagon Alley!"

_I love magic._

They walked into Diagon Alley and Hollis wished suddenly that she had about eight more eyes. Hagrid didn't seem to mind her gawking. In fact, he seemed kind of amused by it. But Hollis didn't care.

She looked around eagerly, keeping very close to Hagrid. There was a shop called Flourish and Blott's, a bookstore from the looks of it. Books of all sizes were lined up in the windows on red and gold plush pillows. An Apothecary was next to it and Hollis could see jars containing everything she could imagine and more. There was a woman standing just outside the Apothecary, muttering furiously to herself about Dragon's liver being eighteen sickles an ounce. There was a Magical Menagerie and Eeylop's Owl Emporium, where different sounds could be heard above the din. But largest of all was a large marble building with golden lettering that spelled out-

"Gringotts. That's our first stop," Hagrid said.

They walked up the great marble staircase and through the golden doors. They walked into a brightly lit marble- everything seemed to be made of marble in this place- floored foyer lined with high tables with imp-like creatures sitting at them.

"Yeah, that's a goblin. Best stay close. Goblin's are notoriously tricky and are not meant to be trifled with," Hagrid explained. Hollis moved closer to Hagrid after a particularly vicious looking goblin passed them hauling a wagon full of rubies and sapphires behind him.

They marched up to the front desk where an aged goblin was weighing emeralds. Hagrid cleared his throat and the goblin looked up. "Ms. Hollis Potter would like to make a withdrawal," Hagrid said.

The goblin looked down at Hollis and Hollis felt the sudden urge to shrink back. However, Hollis stood her ground, intuitively knowing that it was most likely not the best thing to do.

"And does Ms. Hollis Potter have her key?" the goblin asked silkily.

"Um, yeah, I have it," Hagrid said while digging around in his pockets for a minute. He pulled out a tiny golden key and set it down on the table.

"And, I have my orders to retrieve the you-know-what from vault you-know-which," Hagrid whispered while pulling out a pristine white envelope with the same curling lettering on Hollis's letter.

The goblin took the letter and nodded. "Very well," he said before waving to another goblin.

They were led underground to what looked like a streetcar. The filed in and the goblin- Griphook- pulled a lever.

They jolted forward and started speeding down the track. A couple of times Hollis swore that the cart either flew of the track or the track flew out from underneath them. A couple of times, a burst of flame would fly above their heads.

After a few minutes of mindless turns and speeding that Hollis enjoyed immensely, they came to a stop.

"Vault six-hundred-eighty-seven," Griphook said monotonously. Hollis jumped out of the car eagerly but she noticed that Hagrid looked quite green.

"Ugh, never liked them carts…" Hagrid mumbled while clambering out of the cart heavily. Griphook ignored Hagrid's sickness and Hollis's excitement, retrieved both the lamp and the key and waddled over to the door. He stuck the key inside and turned it. Hollis heard the grinding of gears and the hisses of clockwork as the door unlocked and swung open.

Hollis felt her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

Inside the vault were piles of gold, silver and bronze. Dusty but immense, the Wizarding money glinted some in the weak light.

"Your parents did leave you something," Hagrid chuckled. Hollis nodded numbly. She had known that her parents had left her some money; she just didn't realize that they left her this much.

She and Hagrid ventured in and collected some gold in a leather pouch. "Hagrid, what were those spurts of fire back there?" Hollis asked curiously as she slid down a pile of gold rather clumsily.

"Dragons most likely. You'd be mad to rob the place. They've got security systems everywhere, including dragons. Crikey, I would love to have a dragon," Hagrid said distantly as he helped Hollis up.

"A dragon? Aren't they dangerous though?" Hollis asked as they walked out of the vault. She may not have known much about the Wizarding World but she did know that dragons were dangerous and cunning creatures, like Smaug from _The_ _Hobbit_.

"More like misunderstood," Hagrid said as they got back into the cart. There was no more room for discussion after they hurtled off again. They stopped again, the ride this time shorter than the last.

"Vault seven-hundred thirteen!" Griphook said dutifully. They once again got up from the cart and Hollis gave Hagrid a curious look but didn't ask him anything seeing that Hagrid wasn't quite up for talking, or opening his mouth in any manner.

"Stand back!" Griphook said while shoving the lamp Hagrid had given him into Hollis's arms. He dragged a long finger nail along a fine line, the screeching sound making Hollis's skin crawl and her hair stand end on end. The doors opened wide after a minute of hissing and grinding to reveal… a three inch package.

Hollis blinked. She had expected gold and jewels. Hagrid swiped up the package and stuck it in his inside breast pocket. He looked at her and said, "Best not tell anyone at Hogwarts about this."

"Okay," Hollis agreed.

***

Despite enjoying the cart ride, Hollis was glad to be out in the sun again. They walked down into the crowded street and Hollis took out her supplies list.

"Why don't you go into Madame Malkin's and wait for me there. Those Gringotts cars make me feel sick. You wouldn't mind if I went into the Leaky Cauldron for a pick-me-up, would you?" Hagrid said shakily.

Hollis assured him that she would be fine, seeing how ill Hagrid looked. She walked into Madame Malkin's nervously. Madame Malkin appeared moments later, wearing a kind look on her round face as she led Hollis to one of the stools. She measured Hollis carefully while muttering crossly to herself about how thin she was.

"I'll be with you in a moment, dearie," she said sweetly before she bustled off to go get the robes.

There was another child there, a boy with platinum blonde hair and a pointed chin. He was quite snobbish, but that was all Hollis could pick up from his aura.

"Hogwarts too?" he said. He had a drawling, bored sort of voice and Hollis was suddenly reminded of Dudley, only a much thinner and more spoiled version.

"Yes," Hollis said curtly. She really didn't like this boy.

"Father's buying my books next door and Mother's up the street looking at wands. Then, I'm going to drag them to look at racing brooms. I think it's stupid that the first years can't have them. I think I can make my father get me one. I'll smuggle it in somehow," the boy said.

Once again, Hollis was reminded of Dudley.

"Do you have a broom?" the boy pressed.

"No," Hollis said, feeling utterly ridiculous.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Hollis said while simultaneously thinking 'What on Earth is Quidditch'.

"I do and Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked for the House team. I am pretty good. Do you know what house you'll be in?" the boy said boastingly.

"No," Hollis said going slightly red.

"That's okay, cause no one really knows until they get there, do they? But I know that I'll be in Slytherin. My family's been in Slytherin for ages. I think I'd leave if I was in Hufflepuff, wouldn't you?" the boy pressed on.

"Mmm," Hollis said in false thought. She had no idea what this snobby boy was talking about, but she wished feverishly that she could say something other than one word phrases.

"Oh my, God! Look at that man!" the boy said suddenly. Hollis looked out the window and saw Hagrid waving to her from the ice cream shop, smiling happily at her, pointing to two huge ice creams.

"Oh, that's Hagrid. He works as Hogwarts," Hollis said, feeling slightly pleased that she knew something.

"Oh, yeah. Isn't he like the servant or something?" the boy asked.

"He's the gamekeeper," Hollis said, her eyes narrowing. She was really starting to dislike this boy now.

"Exactly! He's some sort of savage. He lives out on the grounds, gets drunk and then tries to do magic and sets his bed on fire!" the boy laughed.

"I think he's brilliant," Hollis said coldly while looking the other way.

"Really? Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" the boy said with a slight sneer.

"They're dead," Hollis said shortly, not wanting to go into details.

"Oh, sorry. But they were our kind weren't they?"

"They were witch and wizard if that's what you mean," Hollis said. She was really starting to lose her temper with this kid. If he kept this up, he might end up with his hair on fire. After all, it looked greasy enough to set on fire.

"I don't think they should let the other kind in. They don't grow up knowing about our world and such. Hey, what's your surname anyway?" the boy asked.

Before Hollis could answer, Madame Malkin came back and shoved some robes into the boy's hands. He waved jauntily to Hollis before sauntering out of the shop.

"I have your robes and uniform, but would you like some new clothes as well? We have a nice selection of Muggle clothing," Madame Malkin said, eyeing Hollis's old sweatshirt and jeans with some distaste. Hollis couldn't resist.

A moment later, Hollis came out laden with packages of her new clothing and robes. It wasn't a lot. She got the staples, stuff that was truly her own, but she knew that she would still have to wear some of Dudley's old clothing.

She trotted over to Hagrid, a slightly depressed look on her face. She ate her ice cream- which was quite good- in silence but before long, Hagrid had coaxed the story out of her. She told him of the pointed face boy and their discussion. Hagrid told her not to worry about it and tried to explain Quidditch to her but failed miserably.

Hollis cheered up slightly when they found a bottle of ink that changed colors as you wrote as well as the staple black and green colors. When they went into the parchment store, Hagrid let her buy some trinkets that included a diary and a new sketchbook. Hagrid wouldn't let her buy a solid gold cauldron though, but she did buy a very nice set of scales to measure potion ingredients with and a collapsible telescope for Astronomy. When they went into Flourish and Blott's, Hollis thought that she had died and ascended into heaven. She flitted around gleefully, looking at different titles as Hagrid asked for the first year course books. She got a couple extra, just for background information, including Hogwarts, A History.

They left Flourish and Blott's and went into the Apothecary to purchase Potion ingredients. The Apothecary was as interesting as it was smelly. Jars of picked brains and unicorn horns lined the shelves and Hollis found herself picking at a shovel that was buried under dead beetles.

After they left to the Apothecary, Hagrid started counting off what they still needed to buy. "Okay, so we still need a wand and I still need to buy you a birthday present," Hagrid said.

Hollis felt herself go very red indeed.

"You don't need to do that," Hollis stuttered out hurriedly. Hagrid waved his hands.

"Don't be silly. I don't expect that the Dursley's gave you many presents anyway. But what to buy you… Ah! I know what to buy you! I'll buy you a pet!" Hagrid said excitedly.

They entered the Magical Menagerie moments later and after meandering around, Hollis found a very pretty snowy owl. She fell in love with her almost immediately. Hagrid nodded approvingly and gave Hollis a smile and a thumbs up. He started to say that owls were dead useful and what they could do but Hollis tuned him out as soon as she set eyes on a feline-like animal.

She crept closer to the cage and saw that it was a beautiful kitten. She was snow white with gold and black splotches all over her thick fur. Her eyes were a pretty ice blue and they sparkled merrily. The kitten started purring at her and started pawing and kneading at her hands. Hollis caressed her silky head and the kitten started purring even louder.

She wasn't entirely sure what had drawn her to this particular animal but she felt something between them.

"It looks like she likes you, Hollis," Hagrid said from behind her. Hollis whirled around and came face to face with his smiling face.

"I guess she does. I don't know… it feels like we have a connection or something…" Hollis said, feeling stupid as she said it.

"Then you should get her. You're an Elemental, Hollis. Something like this was bound to happen. Normal witches and wizards have only one familiar most of the time. Elementals are strange like that. They can have multiple connections to animals. I think that you should get her," Hagrid goaded softly.

Hollis looked at the kitten that was pawing at her limp hand once again.

A moment later, Hollis exited the store with Hagrid with her new owl and kitten. She was thanking Hagrid profusely who was nodding with understanding.

"It's really no problem. It is your birthday after all. Now off to Ollivander's," Hagrid said while leading Hollis to the end of the Alley.

They came upon a shop that was rather old and had only one window. There was faded lettering on it that read Ollivander's, Makers of Fine Wands since 389 B.C. Hollis thought with sudden apprehension that the wand and faded purple pillows in the window looked like they were from 389 B.C.

They walked into the dusty but mercifully empty store. Hollis set down the two cages carefully by a small bench that Hagrid had sat himself on with some difficulty. She walked up to the front desk and looked around expectantly.

Suddenly, a misty looking man appeared from around the tall shelves and looked at Hollis with moon-like eyes.

"I'd wondered when I'd be seeing you, Ms. Potter," he said lightly with a strange but slightly sardonic smile. Hollis could only smile nervously. He walked up to the front desk armed with his own wand and a tape measure.

"It seems like only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands… Ah Hagrid! It's good to see you again! Now, Ms. Potter, which is your wand arm?" Ollivander said, briefly stopping to wave to Hagrid.

"Um, well, I'm right handed," Hollis said while raising her right arm to prove the point.

"Yes, that's it," Ollivander said while tapping the tape measure with his wand. The tape measure sprang to life and started measure every aspect of Hollis's arm and body. Ollivander himself puttered around a couple of shelves for a minute and just before the tape measure started to measure the space between her nostrils, he said, "That's quite enough, thank you."

The tape measure crumpled to the floor.

Ollivander placed many different boxes on the table, and picked the topmost one up and handed the wand inside it to Hollis. Almost a moment later, he stole it back, muttering that 'it wouldn't do'.

They repeated this cycle many more times. Hollis was starting to feel very exasperated. Why couldn't she find a wand that would suit her? The pile of useless wands was piling high.

"You are proving to be a tricky customer! No matter, I think I have the wand for you…" Ollivander muttered before returning to the back room of the shop. He took a deliberately long time and Hollis could have sworn that she heard him say 'I wonder'.

He returned to the front with a very dusty, slender box. He removed the wand from inside it and said to her, "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. Nice and supple."

She took the wand into her right hand and she felt an immediate rush of warmth spreading from the palm of her hand to the rest of her body. She waved the wand in a high ark, producing a shower of gold and red sparks. Hagrid whooped and Ollivander applauded politely. Hollis gave back the wand and Ollivander packed it up.

"That's curious… very curious," Ollivander said as he traded the wand for seven galleons.

"What's curious, sir?" Hollis asked questioningly.

"I remember every single wand I've ever sold, Ms. Potter… every single one. It just so happens that the Phoenix, whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather. Just one other. It's curious that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother, gave you that scar," Olivander said quietly so Hagrid couldn't hear him.

Hollis felt her insides go cold. So Voldemort's wand was brothers with her wand.

"Yes… it was a very powerful wand… I remember it well. It was thirteen and a half inches. Yew. The wand chooses the wizard Ms. Potter. It's not always clear why. But, I think it is clear that we can expect great things from you. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes… but great," he whispered.

From that moment on, Hollis decided to avoid his shop for all she was worth.

33


	5. Chapter 5

I forgot to add this on the last chapter. I don't own anything once again, except this plot. J.K. Rowling owns the rest...

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Chapter Four- Of Trains and Redheads

Life with the Dursley's had reached an all time quiet. They avoided Hollis like the plague but Hollis didn't mind. In fact, she rather liked the situation her newfound heritage brought instead of the former arrangement. The Dursley's left her to her own devices now, and Hollis had more freedom in the house. As long as she didn't leave the house, she could take longer showers- not to mention hotter showers-, eat more, and lounge in her new bedroom for as long as she pleased.

Hollis kept mostly to her room though, spending most of her time trying to clean it up and arrange it to her liking. She had gotten rid of most of the broken toys that littered the room's floor without Dudley's knowledge but kept the books and some of the small knick knacks that she had taken a liking to. The time that she was left with was spent reading her new books which she found dreadfully interesting. She would often spend nights reading her books with rapt attention while her owl flew in and out of the open window, sometimes with dead mice hanging from her beak, and her kitten curled up next to her head. It was in these books that she had found the names for both of her pets. She had decided on Hedwig for her owl and Artemus for her kitten. The names seemed to fit and the animals themselves seemed pleased with their new names.

Hedwig and Artemus got along great, which came as a surprise to Hollis. She would sometimes find Artemus curled up next to Hedwig's cage, purring quietly while Hedwig slept with her head under her wing. It was quite comical.

As the day of September the first drew closer, Hollis began feeling very excited and nervous at the same time. She kept close track of the days by making a pseudo-calendar and checking off the days and tried not to venture to close to the drawer in which she kept her ticket- a very strange ticket indeed for it read Platform 9 ¾ and Hollis was almost certain that it didn't exist- that Hagrid had given to her when he had dropped her off at the train station.

When the last day of August rolled around, Hollis finally realized that she had no way of getting to King's Cross Station. She knew that Uncle Vernon would refuse to take part in her 'Freak School' and they weren't on what a normal person would call speaking terms. But Hollis knew that she had to ask.

So, Hollis found herself standing nervously on the landing, trying desperately to think of way of asking him politely to take her to King's Cross the next day. She took a deep breath and ventured into the living room.

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley were sitting in the room together, watching a quiz game on the television. She cleared her throat to get their attention. It got their attention but it sent Dudley into hysterics. He screamed and ran from the room.

"Uh, Uncle Vernon?" she prodded quietly.

He grunted almost inaudibly. That must mean she had his attention.

"Um, the term starts tomorrow and I, um, need to get to King's Cross Station," she said, completely unsure of herself.

Another grunt. Hollis took that as a 'Keep Going'.

"Would you mind if you could, uh, give me a lift?"

Grunt. Hollis took that as a yes.

"Thank you," Hollis squeaked before turning quickly to exit the living room.

"That's a funny way of traveling… for witches and wizards I mean… trains. Magic carpets all got punctures do they? Where is this bloody school anyway?"

Hollis didn't expect Uncle Vernon to say anything let alone that. Now that he mentioned it, she didn't know where Hogwarts was.

"I'm not sure," Hollis answered honestly. "All I know is that I'm supposed to get to King's Cross Station, go to Platform Nine and three quarters and board the Hogwarts Express by eleven."

Her aunt and uncle stared at her with almost unbelieving expressions on their faces. Hollis stared back nervously, wondering what was so strange.

"Platform _what?_" the both asked simultaneously.

"Nine and three quarters…" Hollis said slowly as if they were young, ignorant children.

"There is no such thing," Uncle Vernon scoffed. Hollis quite agreed with him, but it was what the ticket said.

"It's on my ticket," Hollis countered, trying to convince her relatives to take her to the station.

"Absolutely barking mad… Alright. We'll take you to King's Cross tomorrow. You're lucky that we're going to London tomorrow or else we wouldn't have bothered," Uncle Vernon said grumpily.

Hollis gave Uncle Vernon a curious look. "Why are you going to London?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation civil.

"We're taking Dudley to the Hospital. He's got to have that bloody tail removed before he starts at Smelting's," Uncle Vernon growled angrily.

Hollis took that as the initiative to get lost.

***

Hollis woke extremely early the next day. It was around five o' clock, from what her repaired alarm clock said, but Hollis was too wound tight with an interesting combination of excitement, nervousness and fright to go back to sleep. So she spent the two hours before the Dursley's woke packing and re-packing her huge trunk, getting a sleepy Hedwig into her cage, and coaxing an agitated Artemus into her wicker basket. She checked over her supplies list at least twice just to make sure she had everything and looked in every nook and cranny to see if she left a sock or some other important article of clothing.

She dressed- she chose a pair of dark colored jeans, a plain green tee shirt that matched her eyes and a blue and green sweater- silently after checking over everything and settled in for the two hour long wait.

The two hours passed quicker than Hollis thought and soon enough, Uncle Vernon was loading her heavy trunk into the car and Aunt Petunia was persuading Dudley to sit in the back with Hollis. Dudley was still very uneasy even with Hedwig's large cage separating them but Hollis ignored her jittery cousin.

They pulled into King's Cross Station an hour later and in an unusually kind gesture, Uncle Vernon loaded Hollis's things onto a trolley and began pushing it towards the platform. Hollis thought for a minute that he was ill or had completely gone off his rocker, until he stopped dead in the middle of the platform and gave Hollis a nasty smile.

"Well, there you are. Platforms nine and ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, shouldn't it? It seems like they haven't built it yet. Have a good term!" Uncle Vernon said slyly before leaving Hollis in the crowded station.

Hollis became very nervous and she felt her heart rate quicken. This wasn't good. She was stuck in the middle of King's Cross Station with a wand, a cauldron, a large owl, a cat, and a load of spell books with no means of transportation or any idea on how to get out of the situation she was currently in.

She wandered around aimlessly for a minute, contemplating on asking one of the conductors about Hogwarts. She decided against that. It was almost certain that they would have no idea about what she was talking about. She then settled on asking one of the ticket masters about trains that left at eleven o'clock. He said there were none.

Hollis felt herself pale as she looked at the clock. It was 10:50. She had only ten minutes to find the platform and board the train.

"It's always the same every year and packed with muggles of course! Come on!" cried a woman near Hollis.

Hollis's heart leapt within her chest. That was definitely not normal. She studied the woman closer. She was leading five boys, all of whom had bright red hair and freckles, who were pushing trolleys with trunks just like hers and one of the boys had an owl.

Hollis followed at a distance, just so she could listen to their conversation.

"And what's the platform again?" the woman asked.

"Nine and three quarters! Mom, can't I come?" piped a little girl from beside the woman.

The mother gave her daughter a reproving glance. "No, Ginny. You're too young. Come on you lot!" she said over the din.

Hollis followed the red headed clan towards Platforms nine and ten, still keeping her distance.

"Alright, you first Percy," the woman said to the eldest boy. The boy with the owl and horn-rimmed glasses pushed the cart towards the center of the two platforms, ran towards it, and ran through it.

Hollis blinked. That couldn't be right. She moved a little closer, now determined to see what the boys were doing.

"Fred you next," the mother said tiredly.

"He's not Fred, I am!" cried one boy who was identical to the one standing next to him.

"Honestly woman, do you really call yourself our mother," the other said disapprovingly.

"Oh, sorry George," she said apologetically. Hollis could tell she really meant it.

The first of the twins set himself up to run at the platforms and said to the redheaded mother, "I'm only joking. I am Fred." He ran at the platforms, his twin close behind him, and ran right through it, just like their older brother Percy.

"Excuse me!" Hollis said, her voice sounding oddly high pitched even to her own ears. The mother, the young girl, and the two remaining boys looked back at her and Hollis felt herself go red.

"Um, could you, uh, tell me how to-to," Hollis started nervously while gesturing to the center of Platforms nine and ten.

"How to get onto the platform?" the kind woman finished knowingly. Hollis nodded eagerly.

"Not to worry dear. It's Ron and Danny's first year as well. Now, you have to run straight between Platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared of crashing. It's best if you do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. You can go before Ron and Danny," the woman said kindly while patting Hollis on the back.

Hollis pushed her trolley over so she was directly between platforms nine and ten. She started jogging towards it. What if she crashed? She was only a couple of feet away now. She was running now. A couple of inches away. It was too late to stop. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact.

Nothing came.

Hollis opened her eyes and was met with the sight of a majestic looking steam engine and a sign that read 'Platform 9 ¾'. She had gotten onto the Platform!

She pushed to trolley away from the barrier and towards one of the open doors of the train. It was quite crowded, more crowded than she expected. She somehow managed to push her trolley through the thickening crowd. She loaded Hedwig and Artemus into the compartment first. She then came back for her trunk. She lifted it by a handle and dropped it on her foot. She gasped audibly and muttered to herself. She knew that she wouldn't be able to lift the trunk without help.

"Hey! Do you need help with that?"

It was one of the red haired twins.

Hollis nodded her head.

"OY!! Fred, get over here!" he- George- yelled and with the twins' help, Hollis was able to load her trunk into her compartment.

"Thanks," Hollis said gratefully while pushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"What was that?" Fred asked, pointing to her forehead. Hollis smacked herself mentally. Of course. This was the Wizarding World, not the muggle world. Here people recognized her.

"Are you-?"

"She is," Fred said in an awed voice. "Aren't you?"

"What?" Hollis asked, feeling quite out of the loop.

"Hollis Potter!" they both said in equally excited voices.

"Oh, her! I mean, yes, I am," Hollis said while looking down at her feet, her face bright red. Much to her relief, a familiar voice floated through the train.

"Fred? George? Are you there?" called their mother.

"Oh, we have to go! Nice meeting you!" they said at the same time again. The twins left the compartment a moment later and Hollis sat down in the now empty compartment. She undid the bindings on the wicker basket and Artemus shot out like a bullet, not wanting to be cooped up in her wicker basket any longer. While Hollis caressed the grumpy kitten to soothe her, she looked out the window, half hidden in the shadows.

The mother of the twins was with the two boys and girl and she was fussing over both the boys.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose," she said. Ron was tall, gangly, and very freckly, with large hands and feet, and a long nose. The other boy, who was almost dwarfed by Ron, snickered slightly. The mother took out a handkerchief, licked it, and began rubbing Ron's nose.

"Mom, geroff!" he said angrily.

"Ah, does ickle Ronniekins have somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins as they walked up to the mother, Ron, and the other boy.

"Shut up," Ron said grumpily. The other boy sniggered even louder until his mother attacked his hair with her fingers.

"Where's Percy?" she asked while combing through the other boy's spiky ginger hair.

"He's coming now."

Percy, the oldest boy, strode into sight, already wearing his dark robes and uniform and Hollis just caught the shiny red badge embellished with a 'P' on his chest.

"I can't stay long, Mother. The Prefects have two compartments to themselves," he said.

The twins eyes widened in identical shock. "Percy, we didn't know you were a Prefect!" one of them said.

"Wait, I remember him mentioning it…"

"Once."

"Or twice."

"A minute."

"All summer!"

"Oh, shut up," Percy said sourly.

"How come Percy gets new robes?" one of the twins whined.

"Because he's a Prefect. Have a good term, dear," the mother said as Percy stalked away. Hollis saw the four boys roll their eyes at their mother's fondness towards the oldest boy.

"Okay, well, Mom, guess who we met on the train? You know that skinny black haired girl with the glasses who got on the Platform with us? You know who she is? She's Hollis Potter!" one of the twins said. Hollis was half certain that it was Fred.

Hollis heard the younger girl squeal with delight.

"Ginny, hush! Are you sure Fred? How do you know?" the mother asked.

"Asked her. Saw the scar. It's really there! Like lightning…" Fred said.

"I wonder if she remembers what You-Know-Who looks like," George said.

"I forbid you to ask her! As if she needs reminding of that on her first day of school! The poor dear… I had wondered why she was alone… now I know. She was ever so polite when she asked how to get onto the platform, though," the mother said sadly.

The train's whistle pierced through the din on the platform.

"Hurry up and get seats!" All of the boys boarded the train quickly and they looked out the window to say one last goodbye to their mother.

"Now you two behave yourselves! If I get one more owl about you blowing up a toilet or something, I swear, you'll get an earful! And look after Ron and Danny!" their mother said sternly.

"We've never blown up a toilet, Mom!"

"But thanks for the idea! And don't worry; ickle Ronniekins and Danny boy are safe with us!"

"George!"

Here Ginny began to cry.

"Oh, don't, Gin! We'll send you lots of letters!" one of the twins said.

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!" the other said jokingly. Ginny laughed at that despite their mother's agitated screech. Hollis stopped looking as soon as the Platform disappeared and the London Countryside appeared.

The compartment door slid open to reveal Ron and the other boy from the Platform.

"Hi, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full," Ron asked sheepishly. Hollis nodded her head. The other boy- Danny she assumed- smiled at her shyly and then looked at Ron and said, "I'm going up to see Lee Jordan's tarantula. I'll probably be sitting somewhere near there. Fred and George are there already."

"Okay," Ron said, sounding quite queasy. Danny closed the compartment door and left Ron and Hollis alone.

"I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley," Ron introduced.

"I'm Hollis. Hollis Potter," Hollis said.

Ron's eyes widened. "So, Fred and George weren't joking! Do you really have the-the," Ron stuttered, gesticulating wildly to her forehead.

"The scar?" Hollis asked with a slight smile. Ron nodded so hard that Hollis thought his head was going to fall off. Hollis pulled back her bangs to reveal the thin scar.

"Wicked! So that's where You-Know-Who…" Ron asked, trailing off at the end.

"Yeah. But I don't remember it," Hollis said.

"Really?"

"Well, I remember a lot of green light but that's about it."

"Wow," Ron said quietly. Hollis noticed that he was staring at her but he quickly averted his gaze to out the window, his ears turning red.

"So are all your family members wizards?" Hollis asked interestedly.

"I think so. Mom has a second cousin that's an accountant, but we don't talk about him much," Ron said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I would kill to have four wizard brothers. It must be nice," Hollis said.

At this, Ron seemed to become very glum and depressed. "I have six actually. Two have already left Hogwarts. And it really isn't that great. Danny and I are the sixth to go to Hogwarts and it's safe to say that we have a lot to live up to. Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was Quidditch Captain. Now Percy's a Prefect and Fred and George are really smart and funny at the same time. Everyone expects us to do well but it won't matter what we do because everyone's already done it. And you never get anything new either. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat," Ron explained as he pulled out an old, snoozing rat.

Artemus suddenly sprang to life and started hissing and spitting at the rat. Hollis started stroking her again and although she kept her unnerving gaze on Ron's rat, she quieted. Ron took a shaky breath, obviously unused to cats reacting in a manner such as the one Artemus displayed.

"His name's Scabbers and he's completely useless. All he does is sleep all day. Dad got Percy an owl for being made a Prefect and they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead," Ron said, going very red.

"It's alright not being able to afford anything. I never had any sort of money before a couple of weeks ago and I had to wear my aunt's and fat cousin's old clothes, if it makes you feel any better," Hollis said.

Ron seemed to perk up at that and began explaining the finer points of all- Wizarding families, and here Hollis learned first hand that it was not wise to say Voldemort's name around other people.

They rode in companionable silence for a while until the lunch car came around.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" the gentle looking witch asked them. Ron shook his head no while going extremely red and mumbled something about having brought sandwiches. Hollis, however, who didn't- couldn't was a more apt word- eat breakfast and jumped at the chance.

It was all sweets but they weren't the sweets she was used to seeing. They were Wizarding sweets like Honeyduke's Best Chocolate, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Chocolate Frogs. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Hollis bought a little of everything. Ron's brows disappeared into his hairline when he saw Hollis haul the load of candy back into the compartment.

"You're obviously hungry," he commented.

"I'm starving. You want some?" Hollis asked while biting into a Pumpkin Pasty. Ron went red again and shook his head no. He unwrapped his sandwiches and sighed.

"She always forgets that I don't like corn beef. She doesn't have a lot of time. You know, with the six of us," Ron said.

"I'll swap you one of those for these. Go on, have a pasty," Hollis goaded. Ron finally smiled and took a Pumpkin Pasty. After a while, Ron's sandwiches were forgotten.

Hollis picked up a Chocolate Frog case and looked at it for a minute, contemplating on opening it.

"These aren't real frogs, are they?" Hollis asked suspiciously. Ron shook his head no.

"Nah, besides, it's the cards you want. Every Chocolate Frog comes with a Famous Witch or Wizard Card. You collect them. I've got about five hundred at home," Ron explained.

Hollis opened the box and pulled out the card. It was Albus Dumbledore. "I've got Dumbledore!" she exclaimed.

"I've got about six of him. Do you mind if I had one, Holly? You don't care if I call you that right? 'Hollis' is sort of a mouthful," Ron asked.

"Sure! I like 'Holly' anyway and help yourself to the Chocolate Frogs," Hollis said with a bright smile.

"Oh, I've got Morgana again… Do you want her Holly? You can start collecting," Ron said while handing her the card.

By the time she and Ron ate through most of the Chocolate Frogs, she had gotten Hengist the Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, Merlin, and Cliodna. Hollis found these cards very interesting, and for a time she could not take her eyes off them. Artemus seemed to enjoy the moving pictures as well for she pawed at them like she would with a ball.

She tore herself away from the cards and picked up the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans box before Artemus could annihilate it with her sharp, baby claws. Ron threw the box a suspicious glance.

"I'd be careful with those. When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor. I mean, they have the normal flavor like chocolate and peppermint but then they have the exotic flavors like spinach, liver and tripe. George swears he got a booger flavor one once," Ron said with a grimace as he tore off the end of a Licorice Wand.

They had a lot of fun with the beans. Hollis had tasted green apple, grass, sprouts, marmalade, and had tasted the end of a funny gray one that Ron refused to touch that turned out to be pepper. Just as they were about to open up another package, a boy around their age opened the compartment door.

"Have you seen a toad anywhere?" he asked fretfully. Ron and Hollis shook their heads no.

"Oh no! I've lost him again!" the boy wailed.

"Don't worry. He'll turn up," Hollis said encouragingly.

The plump boy left and Ron gave Hollis a sidelong look.

"I don't know what he's crying about. If I had a toad, I'd lose it as soon as I could, but I have Scabbers, so I can't exactly talk," Ron said. Hollis agreed. They both stared at Ron's snoozing rat who had taken residence in the empty Bertie Bott's Beans box.

"He could have died and you wouldn't know the difference. Fred gave me a spell yesterday to turn him yellow, you know to make him more interesting. It didn't work though. Here I'll show you," Ron said while rummaging through his things to retrieve a battered looking wand. Something shiny was sticking out on the bottom of it.

"The unicorn hair's nearly poking out of it… Okay, here goes," Ron said, but before he could start the incantation, a busy haired girl opened their compartment door and walked in. She had very large teeth, brown bushy hair, and was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes and uniform.

"Have you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," she said.

"He's already been by. We haven't seen it," Ron said, annoyed. The girl eyed Ron's wand with a curious gleam in her eye. She sat down next to Ron, who was looking more irritated by the second with this new girl.

"Are you doing magic? I've only done a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me. It was so surprising when I got my letter because no one's magic in my family but I was really pleased. I've memorized all the course books as well and done a bit of background reading and it sounds like Hogwarts is an awfully good school so I'm really happy that I'm going to the best magic school in the world. I'm Hermione Granger by the way. Who are you?"

This Hermione Granger girl said this all very fast. Hollis's head was spinning and judging by Ron's glazed look, she had lost him at the word 'letter'. He had, however, caught the words 'memorized' and 'course books'. With one look, Hollis silently communicated that she hadn't memorized the course books either despite the fact that she had at least, read through them.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron said, snapping out of his stupor.

"I'm Hollis Potter. You can call me Holly if you want though," Hollis said quietly.

"Are you really? I've read all about you of course! You know that you're in a ton of books about the Dark Arts and what not. You have a really amazing story, Hollis," Hermione said in rapt succession.

"I am? Wow, I didn't know that," Hollis said in amazement.

"Goodness, I would have found out all that I could have if I were you, Hollis- I mean, Holly. Do either of you know what house you'll be in?" Hermione asked eagerly. They both shook their heads.

"I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, but Gryffindor sounds like by far the best. I hear Dumbledore was in that house. Oh, you two had best change into your robes. We'll be arriving soon, I think. Oh, and you have dirt on your nose. Did you know? Just there," Hermione said while gesturing to the spot on her own nose before leaving the compartment. Ron scrubbed his nose for a minute before they looked at each other. Ron gave a disgusted look but started the spell again. He cleared his throat

"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow!" Ron said while pointing his wand at Scabbers. Nothing happened.

"You know, I bet Fred knew it would be a dud…" Ron muttered to himself.

Suddenly, another group of people walked into their compartment. It was the pointed face boy that Hollis had met at Madame Malkin's robe shop.

"So it's true then. What people have been saying? They say that Hollis Potter is in this compartment. Is it you?" he asked, his gray eyed gaze fixed upon Hollis.

"Yes," Hollis said shortly, not wanting to engage in another conversation with this boy. There were two other people with them, both of them extremely big but they looked extremely stupid.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle. And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said, adding extra emphasis on his first name.

Ron coughed, but Hollis knew that he was trying to disguise his laughter. Malfoy rounded on him.

"Think my name's funny do you? No need for me to ask yours. My father says that all Weasley's have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford," Malfoy sneered. Ron turned beet red.

Malfoy was once again interested in Hollis. "You'll learn soon that some Wizarding families are better than other's, Potter. You don't want to go hang around riff-raff like the Weasley's. I can help you there," Malfoy said. He extended his hand.

Hollis looked at his hand and then looked him in the eye. "I think I can tell who's the wrong sort for myself, thanks," she said coolly. Malfoy blushed a pale pink but he stood his ground.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Your parents were the same way. You'll meet the same sticky end as they did if you consort with the Weasley's and that Hagrid," Malfoy said slowly. Ron rose as did Hollis, but Hollis grabbed Ron's arm in a warning. She gave Ron a very pointed glance but he ignored her unnerving stare.

"Say that again, Malfoy," Ron growled.

"Leave," Hollis commanded, her eyes narrowing dangerously, her left hand clenching into a fist. Her hand felt very hot.

"I don't think I want to. We've eaten all of our food and you have some left," Malfoy said as if he owned the place. He, Crabbe and Goyle leaned towards the leftover sweets on the seat but they didn't get very far. Before they could get anything, Scabbers sunk his sharp teeth into Goyle's finger. He cried out and swung his hand around, efficiently hurtling Scabbers towards the wall. The three boys exited the compartment seconds later, and with one last sour look from Malfoy, they disappeared.

"What on Earth is going on down here?" said Hermione Granger's voice. Ron rolled his eyes but went to go pick up Scabbers. Hermione entered the compartment again and said disapprovingly, "You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before you get to Hogwarts!"

Ron and Hollis ignored her. "I think he's been knocked out. Wait… I don't believe it! He's gone back to sleep!" Ron exclaimed in disbelief.

"You two had best change into your robes. I've just been up front to ask the driver how much longer and he says we're nearly there," Hermione huffed indignantly.

Ron and Hollis stared at her. "Um, can you leave? I don't feel comfortable changing in front of you," Ron said. Hermione harrumphed and stalked away.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she isn't in," Ron said to Hollis just before she left to go get changed. She came back moments later and she finally noticed how dark it was getting and how slow the train was going compared to before. She helped Ron clean up the sweets and in return, he helped her get a snoozing Artemus back into her basket. The sky was very dark and Hollis's stomach was in her feet by the time the train stopped completely.

"What house are your brothers in?" Hollis asked as they exited the train.

"Gryffindor. Mum and Dad were in there too," Ron said glumly. Hollis nodded in understanding. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"First years! This way!"

It was Hagrid.

He was pushing his way through the throng of Hogwarts students, trying to get to the nervous group of first years. Hagrid managed to spot her and he called out, "Alright there, Hollis?"

Hollis nodded and gave Hagrid a shaky smile. "First years, this way! To the boats!" Hagrid yelled over the din. Hollis, Ron and the rest of the first years followed Hagrid to the docks where at least twenty boats with lanterns were moored.

"No more than four to a boat… Hey! Does this toad belong to anyone?" Hagrid yelled as everyone scrambled to get into the boats.

"Trevor!" Neville the toadless boy cried out happily. He took Trevor the Toad from Hagrid and scrambled into the boat with Hollis, Ron, and a sandy haired boy they didn't know.

"Forward!" Hagrid yelled as soon as he made himself comfortable in his boat. They floated atop the glass like surface quickly and Hogwarts soon came into view.

When they saw the school, everyone let out a very loud 'Oohh'.

It was a magnificent castle, with towers scattered everywhere and the grounds seemed to go on forever. In the distance, Hollis could make out stands, and six giant hoops. Hollis knew, somehow, that she was home.

They docked the boats, and after a lot of slipping and sliding, all the first years and Hagrid were congregated in front of the big oak doors.

"Everyone still in one piece? You still have your toad? Okay then," Hagrid asked only to receive a few scarce nods or no response at all. Hagrid raised his great fist and knocked on the oak doors.

47


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Harry Potter. The usual. Darn it...

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Chapter Five- Of Sing Hats and Houses

The oak doors swung open to reveal a very thin, tall, strict looking witch with black hair done in a tight bun clothed in emerald green. Hollis knew from what she sensed that this woman was fair, but definitely not a person to anger.

"The first years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said dutifully. McGonagall nodded curtly.

"Thank you, Hagrid. First years, follow me," McGonagall said. They followed quickly behind her. Hollis thought that the inside was grander than the outside. It was all stone, with a marble floor, and suits of armor were littered along the walls. Portraits hung on every inch of wall space that they had, and the stair cases were ornately carved. The foyer itself was enormous. Hollis did some mental math and calculated that Uncle Vernon's house could be fit in the foyer, four times over.

McGonagall was a brisk walker, but they didn't walk for very long. They stopped in front of a pair of intricately carved doors.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Before you take your seats in the Great Hall, let me explain a few things. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. You eat together, sleep together, and spend free time together. If you do well, you will earn house points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. These points will be tallied up at the end of the year and whichever house has the most, will win the House Cup.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place momentarily in front of the rest of the school. I suggest that you… tidy yourselves up a bit before I return," McGonagall said sternly. Here she stared at Ron's nose which still had dirt on it. Hollis tried to flatten her hair- it was up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face- but failed miserably.

"I will call you when we are ready," McGonagall said before opening the doors and walking out of the foyer. Hollis caught a quick glance of the Great Hall. She swallowed the lump in her throat. There were a lot of people in there…

"Ron? What is the Sorting Ceremony?" Hollis asked quietly to Ron, who was desperately trying to rub the dirt off his nose.

"I'm not entirely sure. George said it was really painful, though," Ron said, looking quite white underneath his red hair. Hollis started to feel queasy. She started thinking about what the sorting could be and she started thinking so hard, that she almost didn't notice people gasp or scream when silvery beings floated into the room with them. They were ghosts. Hollis felt her mouth drop open.

"I say we give Peeves another chance," one rather plump ghost said sincerely.

"Friar, we have given Peeves more than enough chances! Oh, I say who are all of you?" another ghost said, this one wearing a high collared ruffled shirt, just noticing the pale and jumpy soon to be first year students.

"Oh, it's the first year students! I'm the Fat Friar everyone! I hope to see you in Hufflepuff! It's my old house you know," the Fat Friar said good naturedly. The group of ghosts smiled at them kindly and floated into the Great Hall.

A moment later, McGonagall appeared before them once more. "We're ready for you now," she said while beckoning for them to follow her.

They walked into the Great Hall and Hollis felt her breath hitch in her throat. The Great Hall was an enormous dining hall with ornate arches covering most of the walls. Four long tables were placed methodically in the hall, according to houses. If Hollis was correct, then Slytherin was on the far right, Gryffindor on the far left, Ravenclaw next to the Gryffindors and Hufflepuff next to the Slytherins. The ceiling was very high and it seemed to open up to the night sky. But Hollis knew better. She had read Hogwarts, A History cover to cover and she knew that the ceiling was bewitched to look like the night sky. She heard Hermione whisper this to an Asian girl eagerly.

In front of them was a high table, the staff table. Hollis noticed Hagrid, Professor Quirrell, and Professor Dumbledore were sitting at the high table. There was an empty seat, presumably McGonagall's seat.

On the stage in front of the staff table was a three legged stool and a tattered old hat. Hollis and Ron looked at each other, their faces mirroring each other's confusion.

Did they have to pull a rabbit out of the hat?

That sounded stupid even in Hollis's head.

Suddenly, the seam split into a broad, lipless mouth, and it began to sing.

"_Oh, you might not think I'm pretty, _

_But don't judge on what you see, _

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me. _

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall, _

_For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, _

_And I can cap them all. _

_There's nothing hidden in your head _

_The Sorting Hat can't see, _

_So try me on and I will tell you _

_Where you out to be. _

_You might belong in Gryffindor, _

_Where dwell the brave at heart, _

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry _

_Set Gryffindors apart; _

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_Where they are just and loyal, _

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true _

_And unafraid of toil; _

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_If you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning, _

_Will always find their kind; _

_Or perhaps in Slytherin, _

_You'll make your real friends, _

_Those cunning folk use any means _

_To achieve their ends. _

_So put me on! Don't be afraid! _

_And don't get in a flap! _

_You're in safe hands (though I have none) _

_For I am a thinking cap!"_

When the school burst into applause, Hollis was torn between feeling slightly crazy or just as excited as the rest of the school. Ron gave her sidelong look, one that quite clearly said 'What was that'.

"When I call your name, you may take a seat on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat. Abbot, Hannah!" McGonagall called. A pigtailed, pink faced girl walked nervously onto the stage, sat on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat.

"We only have to try on a hat?! Fred was going on about wrestling a troll! I'm going to kill him the next time I see him!" Ron whispered to Hollis angrily. Hollis felt warm relief bubble in the pit of her stomach. Yes, trying on a hat seemed much better than performing in front of the school but… it was nerve wracking to say the least. Especially for the person sitting on the stool.

Hannah Abbot looked particularly ill underneath the ebony black hat and the Sorting Hat's pause had taken away what was left of her rosy complexion.

After a moment's deliberation, the Sorting Hat screeched, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hannah Abbot smiled and took off the hat shakily. She walked down to the Hufflepuff table and Hollis saw the Fat Friar smile at her kindly.

"Bones, Susan!"

Hollis thought that Bones sounded like a familiar surname but that thought slipped quickly from her mind as Bones, Susan was sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Boot, Terry!"

Boot, Terry became the first Ravenclaw and moments later, Brocklehurst, Mandy went to Ravenclaw as well. However, Brown, Lavender became the first Gryffindor. Holly could see Ron's twin brothers cat calling.

Bulstrode, Millicent became the first Slytherin. Hollis didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It may have been her imagination, but Slytherin house did look like a nasty group of kids.

As Flinch-Fletchy, Justin was sorted into Hufflepuff, Hollis began to feel nauseous. She felt as if she was in muggle school again and was being picked for teams. Hollis was actually quite athletic but she was always picked last. It didn't matter if she was good or not; everyone was too afraid of Dudley to pick her first.

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

The sandy haired boy that had ridden in the boat with Ron and Hollis walked up to the stage and after nearly a whole minute was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione literally ran up the stage and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. Ron gave Hollis and incredulous look and Hollis just shrugged. She had sensed the first time she had met Hermione that she was quite passionate and a bit of an overachiever.

After a couple of seconds, Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor.

Ron groaned beside Hollis and she just gave him a sympathetic look. But something else was bothering Hollis other than Ron's misery and annoyance with one Hermione Granger. She was worried about the sorting itself. What if they had made a mistake? What if she was sent home back to the Dursley's? No… she was being irrational… but what if…?

She hardly noticed that Neville Longbottom, the toadless boy from the train, was sorted into Gryffindor and then proceeded to run off the stage with the hat on his head. The hat had squawked indignantly and everyone had laughed while he gave it to MacDougal, Morag.

It was Malfoy's turn next. He sauntered up to the stage and was sorted into Slytherin almost as soon as the hat touched his head. Hollis saw his wide smirk as he walked over to the table on the far right.

There weren't many left now until she was sorted.

Moon went to Ravenclaw, Nott went to Slytherin and a pug faced girl named Parkinson followed him. Next came a pair of twins, Patil and Patil, who went to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectfully, then a girl named Perks, Sallyanne went to Hufflepuff and then…

"Potter, Hollis!"

Hollis felt the stares of the student body piercing holes into the back of her head and whispers broke out in the hall as soon as she stepped forward bravely.

"Potter did she say?" one said rather loudly.

"_The _Hollis Potter?" another said in return.

Hollis ignored them all. She sat down on the stool carefully, lest her shaky knees give out on her. McGonagall dropped the hat over her eyes and the Great Hall was obscured by black folds of linen. She nearly jumped when she heard the oily voice of the Sorting Hat in her ear.

"_Hmm, difficult… difficult… I haven't had this much of a challenge in years… You have plenty of courage, there's no doubt about that… not a bad mind either; in fact, you're rather curious and enjoy learning… there's a lot of talent here as well and a thirst to prove yourself… But where to put you?"_ said the Sorting Hat.

_Not Slytherin, not Slytherin…_ Hollis chanted in her head, her hands griping the stool and her new robes.

"_Not Slytherin, eh? But you'd fit in so well there… it's all right here in your head… and Slytherin could help you on your way to greatness… _(Here Hollis started chanting again)_ Are you sure? Well, it better be…" _the hat whispered.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat yelled out to the Great Hall. Hollis hardly noticed through her giddy relief that she had spent the most time on the stool and was receiving the loudest applause yet. She vaguely heard the Weasley twins start chanting 'We got Potter, we got Potter'.

She walked over shakily to the table on the far left where she was met by Percy the Prefect who shook her hand vigorously while saying something about becoming very good acquaintances or something or other. After being given a severe look by Professor McGonagall, the hall quieted down and the Sorting continued.

Many people had been sorted after Hollis but only one person had managed to make it into Gryffindor before Ron and Danny. It was a boy of African American descent who was actually taller than Ron himself named Dean Thomas. When Ron's name was called, Hollis crossed her fingers under the table. Though, she needn't have worried. The result of Ron's sorting was almost exactly like Malfoy's.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Sorting Hat. Ron looked extremely relieved as he sat down next to Hollis.

"Now, Danny and that really shifty looking kid are left," Ron murmured to her after all of Ron's brothers congratulated him on making Gryffindor.

"Prewet- Weasley, Daniel!"

Hollis looked at Ron with incredulous eyes.

"What's up with Danny's last name?" she whispered. Ron smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"I forgot to tell you. Danny isn't really my brother. My parents took him in after his parents were killed in the war. Even though he is technically a Weasley, he still goes by his other surname 'Prewet'. Though it's strange they called him by 'Prewet- Weasley'. I've never heard that before," Ron explained carefully. Hollis nodded while blushing. She hadn't realized that Danny's parents had died in the war against Voldemort.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Sorting Hat moments later. Hollis applauded hard for Danny who was looking extraordinarily pale underneath his shock of ginger hair. It looked like he needed a major confidence boost.

A moment later, Zabini, Blaise was sorted into Slytherin and McGonagall took the stool and the Sorting Hat off the stage. Once McGonagall was back in her seat, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

Dumbledore was an odd looking man but Hollis felt strangely protected and calmed by his presence. He was thin, very thin, with white hair and a beard long enough to tuck into his belt to match. He wore half moon glasses and they sat upon a crooked nose that had been broken at least twice. His eyes were a piercing forget-me-not blue, and they twinkled benignly. He was wearing periwinkle colored robes with a matching conical hat. He seemed slightly eccentric and in mad in more ways than just one.

"Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts! First, I have a few start of term announcements to make before our minds become too befuddled by our excellent feast. First years should note that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden. And some of our older students should remember this as well," Dumbledore said kindly, his eyes flashing briefly in the Weasley twins' directions.

"Mr. Filch has also asked for me to remind you that magic is also forbidden in the corridors and in between classes." Once again, Dumbledore's eyes flickered over to the Weasley twins. Hollis caught quite a few people staring at them and the twins were just smiling coyly while Percy glowered at them.

"Quidditch Trials will be held in the second week of the term and anyone interested in playing for their house should contact Madame Hooch. I must also announce that this year, the third floor corridor is strictly forbidden to anyone… who does not wish to die a most painful death," Dumbledore said blandly. Hollis and Ron looked at each other. Hollis chuckled nervously but she was one of the few that did.

"Now, I just have a few more words to say. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" he said cheerfully.

Hollis stared. "Say Percy… is he a bit… mad?" Hollis asked, carefully choosing her words.

Percy laughed. "Mad? He's a genius! He's the best wizard in the world! But yes, to answer your question, he is a bit mad. Would you like potatoes, Hollis?" Percy said.

Hollis gaped. Along the table, was the most delicious looking food she had ever seen. Tureens of beans, platters of roast beef, pork chops, chicken, steaks, lamb, bowls of mashed potatoes, pies, and everything else under the sun graced the table and Hollis's mouth started to water.

It wasn't as if the Dursley's had starved her. She just never got to eat a lot of what she liked. No, Dudley had taken care of that. He had eaten everything that Hollis had liked, even if it made him ill the next day.

Hollis took a little bit of everything and listened and participated in a particularly interesting conversation between her, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Ron.

"I'm half and half. My mum's a witch and my dad's a muggle. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out," Seamus said. Everyone laughed at this.

"What about you Neville?" Dean asked. Neville turned bright red for some reason.

"Well, my Gran raised me and she's a witch. I'm pretty sure that my entire family is all Wizarding though. But the family thought I was all Muggle for ages, my great- Uncle Algie in particular. He used to do all sorts of mad stuff to me, just to scare the magic right out of me! He once dropped me off a pier… I was okay though. I didn't show any magic until I was eight. Great-Uncle Algie was holding me by my ankles out a second story window and someone offered him a piece of meringue pie and he accidentally dropped me. I bounced though, from the garden into the street. Everyone was so happy. Gran cried. Everyone was even happier when I got my Hogwarts letter. Everyone was sure that I wasn't going to have enough magic to get in here. Great- Uncle Algie was so happy that he bought me my toad!" Neville explained while indicating to a lump in his pocket.

Everyone laughed at Neville's story despite the fact that half of it shouldn't even be considered funny.

"Do you know your heritage, Holly?" Seamus asked eagerly. Hollis looked up from her plate. Almost immediately, the Gryffindors had picked up on Ron's nickname for her and started using it. Hollis was almost amazed at how fast she had learned to answer to the nickname.

"I'm actually not entirely sure. The muggles that I live with never told me anything about my parents. But I'm almost certain that my dad came from an all- Wizarding family and my mum was Muggle-Born. So I'm guessing that I'm like you, Seamus," Hollis explained.

Seamus looked a bit guilty for asking but Hollis didn't mind. She had never known her parents. Sure, she was sad about not having any but she couldn't remember them enough to miss them and mourn them.

She flitted in and out of conversations and managed to strike up a conversation between her, Percy Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Though Percy and Hermione were the ones who were doing all the talking.

"Personally, I'm rather intrigued by Transfiguration. The whole concept of turning something into another is just so fascinating! But I hear it's rather difficult," Hermione said, slightly breathless.

"We don't have to worry just yet though. We're starting off really simple, like turning a match into a needle. Once we get into larger things, then we should worry," Hollis said pointedly while spearing a piece of pork. Hermione scowled at her, almost angry at how Hollis outdid her.

"Hollis is right. You guys won't be transfiguring wardrobes into dogs and such for a long while. For the first couple weeks, you'll be studying wrist movements and spell pronunciations anyway," Percy told Hermione.

"What do you think is the most interesting subject, Holly?" Hermione said rather stiffly.

"I think Defense Against the Dark Arts is really interesting. There seems to be a lot of action in it and I like to move," Hollis said airily. Hermione looked slightly aghast but turned back around to face Percy. They were very deep in conversation and Hermione didn't turn to face Hollis again.

Hollis didn't mind though. It gave her more time to study the staff table.

There was a rather short, warlock like man sitting next to McGonagall. He had a shock of white hair on top of his head and he sat upon at least a half a dozen pillows. His aura was a bright blue, mixed with green.

Next to Dumbledore sat an earthy looking woman that was shrouded in a leafy and plant-like aura. She had a round but kind looking face and it was framed by short, curly locks of brown hair.

Next to the plant-lady, was a very stern but matronly woman dressed in what Hollis thought was a nurse's uniform. She was surrounded in a strong, lilac colored aura speckled with pinks and blues.

There was a lady with orange eyes that vaguely reminded Hollis of the wind, another who looked stern but fun loving at the same time, and many other teachers. She spotted Quirrell at the end of the table in his absurd purple turban next to a greasy haired man with a hooked nose. The hooked nosed man looked straight back at her and a strange emotion twisted in his sallow face. Hollis knew immediately that it was dislike. She could feel it coming off the man in waves.

Hollis thought for a split second that she had at least met the man before. She wasn't sure. But then it happened.

A searing pain split across her forehead and she clapped her hand to her forehead. It went almost as fast as it came, but it still worried Hollis.

"You okay?" Percy asked, looking at her strangely. She then realized that her hand was still clasped to her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a slight headache. But, who's that teacher sitting next to Professor Quirrell?" Hollis asked.

"Oh, you already know Quirrell do you? Well, he's sitting next to Professor Snape; he's the Potions Master and the Head of Slytherin. But we all know that it's the Dark Arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrell's job for years," Percy explained. Hollis nodded.

Dinner finished soon after and dessert started. Hollis managed to scarf down a treacle tart even though she was filled to the bursting. When the last of the tarts and sweets were gone, Dumbledore stood up again.

"Once again, welcome back to Hogwarts! Now that our feast is over, it is time to go off to bed! First years, the Prefects will show you to the dormitories for you respectful houses. Now off you go!" Dumbledore said merrily.

Hollis smiled in spite of herself. She got up and followed the rest of the first years who were following Percy.

"This way and keep up please!" he said while turning a corner and onto a landing leading to the staircases. Hollis looked up. She remembered reading that Hogwarts had at least one hundred and fifty two staircases. What she didn't know was that they liked to change.

When the first staircase moved, Hollis wasn't the only one who cried out. "Yes, be warned of the staircases. They have a tendency to move," Percy said with a wave of his hand as if it weren't important.

They climbed the staircases where Percy pointed out each of the trick stairs and each of the hidden alcoves that led to the Gryffindor Common Room. On the way to the seventh floor, they met Peeves, the Poltergeist.

"Oohh! Look! Ickle Firsties!" he cackled while pelting them with chalk.

"Peeves! Go away! Or shall I call the Headmaster? Or better yet, the Baron?" Percy said menacingly. Peeves chucked the rest of the chalk at them and then glided away, cackling maniacally.

"Don't mess with Peeves. He's the resident Poltergeist. He likes to torment people. The only person who can control him is the Bloody Baron. He won't even listen to us prefects. Ah, here we are," Percy explained to the slightly shocked group of eleven year olds. They came upon a picture of a rather fat lady in a dress that made people feel uncomfortable by looking at it. She smiled suddenly and asked, "Password?"

"Caput Draconis," Percy answered. The Fat Lady smiled again, and the door swung open to reveal a door way. They all scrambled through they doorway and into the Common Room.

The Common Room was a circular room warmed by a roaring fire and littered with tables, red and gold hangings, and overstuffed but squashy looking armchairs. The room gave off a very homey feeling and the compactness of the room intensified this feeling. In the background, Hollis could see a spiral staircase, which presumably led to the dormitories.

"This is the Gryffindor Common Room. The dormitories are just up the stairs. Boys, you have the room on the first level on the left, the girls, the same on your right. All of your stuff has been brought up and your new robes and uniforms tailored. Breakfast starts tomorrow at seven and classes begin and eight o'clock," Percy told them as he showed them the dorms.

"'Night," Ron said sleepily. Hollis yawned while trying to say 'Goodnight' but the 'good' and the 'n' got completely cut off. Ron got the message though. Hollis followed the girls into the girl's dormitory and was greeted by Artemus meowing from a curled up position on a very comfy looking four poster bed.

"Aw, she's such a pretty cat," Lavender Brown said with a quiet squeal.

"Thanks," Hollis said with another yawn. Hollis was thankful that everyone was tired. Otherwise, Hollis somehow knew that people would be badgering her to no end. They all changed in silence and crawled into bed after pulling on their pajamas. They all fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Hollis dreamt that night about Quirrell's turban, the hooked nosed teacher, Voldemort's laughter and a lot of green light. She wasn't entirely sure why she dreamed of that, but she was somewhat partial to the explanation that she had eaten too much. She had woken with a start and drenched in a cold sweat.

However, after a drink of cold water, Hollis went back to sleep and didn't dream of anything.

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Please review. I'm desperate here. I'll update faster... I think...


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, the usual. I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does... I think I'll just go cry in a corner now...

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Chapter Six- Of First Days and Angry Potions Masters

"Oh, my God! Do you see her?"

"Where? I can't see her!"

"She's the skinny one in Gryffindor robes with the black hair standing next to the tall redhead!"

"Oh, my Goodness! It is her! Do you think she does autographs?"

Whispers such as these followed Hollis through the hallways as soon as she left the girl's dormitories. People in the common room, including her own dorm mates who were now quite awake, lined up to see her and until Percy Weasley barked at everyone to keep moving. Hollis wished with every fiber of her being that they wouldn't do that.

Finding classes for the first week had proven difficult, but she and Ron had learned a lot since then. When it came to finding the right doors or the right staircases, you just had to be really lucky. The staircases couldn't be persuaded to move, but they did, however, have trick stairs that made your feet sink if you forgot to jump the aforementioned trick stair. The doors, though, were different stories. Some only opened when you asked politely, some only opened when you tickled them in the right spot. Others weren't even doors at all.

The ghosts weren't much of a help when it came to finding classrooms. Nearly Headless Nick, the resident Gryffindor Tower ghost whose head was hanging on a 'hinge' of muscle tissue, was always happy to point the Gryffindors in the right direction but Peeves was almost unbearable if you were late. Most of the time, he would sneak up behind you, grab your nose and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

If there was anything worse than Peeves, it was the Caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch. He hated all children and he blatantly made this known. Hollis and Ron had managed to get on Filch's wrong side on the first day. They had been trying to force the door on the forbidden third floor corridor- though they hadn't known it was the forbidden one- and Filch thought they were trying to break into the corridor. Hollis and Ron tried to explain that they thought it was the Transfiguration classroom but Filch hadn't cared. He started going on about torture and hanging people by their thumbs in the dungeons until Hollis and Ron were rescued by Professor Quirrell.

Filch had an assistant and his assistant came in the form of his cat, Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris was a dusty colored, skinny, creature with huge, lamp like eyes that resembled Filch's own eyes. If you broke a rule in front of her, she'd whisk off in an instant and two seconds later, Filch would appear, winded and wheezing, but raving mad. Filch knew the secret corridors of Hogwarts better than anyone save perhaps the Weasley twins and could almost pop up out of nowhere. All the students hated him and it was everyone's deepest desire to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Then there were the classes themselves, when you managed to find them. Hollis found out very soon that there was more to magic than waving a wand and saying a few weird words.

As it turned out, many of the spells turned had actually been derived from an ancient or dead language, such as Latin. Each spell had its own use and meaning and separate wrist movement.

However, some classes didn't even require the use of a wand.

History of Magic was one of these classes and it was easily the most boring class. It was taught by a ghost, Professor Binns, who had fallen asleep in the staff room, got up for class the next day and forgot his body. He was the only ghost that taught a class and everyone was thankful for that. He may have been determined to teach, even in his afterlife, but he was about as exciting as watching paint dry. He droned on and on about things such as the Goblin Rebellions and he often got names mixed up.

Astronomy, though interesting, was tedious and required a lot of observation. It took place every Wednesday at midnight and despite the fact that Hollis was fairly interested in the stars and planets, she was slightly dubious about passing it, given the class hours.

Transfiguration was easily the most difficult class, but Hollis found it exceedingly interesting. Professor McGonagall, true to her appearance, was very strict. She had given them a talk the very first day.

"Transfiguration is a difficult course and sometimes very dangerous. I do not tolerate foolishness in my class. If I catch you being careless in my classroom, you will walk out this door and never come back in," she had said sternly.

She had given them a couple of demonstrations and then set an assignment. Just as Hollis predicted, McGonagall had tasked them with turning a match into a needle.

It was actually not that difficult for Hollis. She wasn't sure if it was her Elemental status that was boosting her magic level or if she just had a natural aptitude for the subject. Whatever it was, it helped her win a rare smile from McGonagall for she had made her match go pointy and silver by her third try. Hermione glowered at her but she needn't have glared. By the end of the class only she had Hermione had made any headway. They weren't perfect needles but McGonagall said that she had high hopes for the both of them.

Charms was a fairly interesting class but it was fairly difficult. It was taught by a very small man with a shock of white hair named Flitwick. He seemed to be full of energy despite his old age. He seemed particularly pleased with the fact that he was teaching the famous Hollis Potter for he toppled off his stack of pillows every time he did roll call. Hermione Granger was in her element in this class and often excelled in particular charms.

Defense Against the Dark Arts turned out to be a bit of a joke. Quirrell, who seemed to be afraid of his profession as well as his students, was very nervous in the classroom and often jumped whenever someone dropped a book. It reeked of garlic half the time and the Weasley twins often said that Quirrell packed his room garlic to ward off a vampire he had met in his travels. He often jumped from subject to subject and could not stay on a particular subject for too long, especially when it came to his turban and his travels. However, when it came to spells, Hollis was in her element. She had managed to master the Knock- Back Jinx- Flipendo- in the first class.

Hollis was relieved and surprised at the same time when she learned that she wasn't miles behind everyone else. She learned that lots of people in Hogwarts came from Muggle families and had no idea that witches and wizards existed let alone knew that they were one. And Hollis needn't have worried anyway. There was so much to learn about magic that even people from pureblood families like Ron had much of a head start.

Friday was an extremely important day for Hollis and Ron. They had managed to find Great Hall without getting lost once. Hollis, personally, felt like doing a happy dance.

"That's a relief. I thought I was going to get lost every single time I tried to find this place," Ron said with a laugh. Hollis laughed too as they sat down to eat their breakfast. Hollis helped herself to some porridge- a rarity in the Dursley household seeing how Dudley could eat all of it in one go- and poured some sugar on top of it.

"What do we have first?" Hollis asked while pouring some pumpkin juice into her goblet.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," Ron said with a grimace. Hollis shivered.

"Snape's head of Slytherin house, isn't he?" Hollis asked.

"Yeah, and I hear he favors the Slytherins. We'll see if it's true," Ron said darkly. He spooned himself some eggs and speared a fat sausage, possibly trying to imagine Snape's head there.

"I wish McGonagall favored us," Hollis stated blandly, swallowing a spoonful of hot porridge. Ron nodded vigorously in agreement. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor house but that didn't stop her from giving them a load of homework the day earlier.

Just then, the owls swooped in to deliver the mail. Hollis had been used to owl post, but not on this magnitude. She was used to the Hogwarts setting by now but she had received the shock of a lifetime on the first day.

She hadn't received any mail so far but Hedwig sometimes flew by to nibble on her ear and a piece of toast before flying off to the owlery. This morning was different. She swooped down in between the marmalade and bowl of apples and dropped a letter onto Hollis's plate.

Hollis, eager for her first letter at Hogwarts, opened it at once. It was from Hagrid.

_Hollis,_

_I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and visit me for a cup of tea at around three? I want to hear about your first week. Send a reply back with Hedwig._

_Hagrid_

Hollis smiled as she scribbled a note to Hagrid (Yes please, see you later) on the back of the letter. She gave Hedwig a piece of toast and her letter and sent her to Hagrid.

It was fortunate that Hollis had something to look forward to for Potions class had not been fun in the least.

Potions class took place down in the Dungeons, and it was as creepy as it was cold. Its creepiness was magnified tenfold with the jars of pickled animals lying around where you'd least expect it. Ron and Hollis sat next to each other, as usual and Snape strode in a moment later, his robes billowing behind him.

He began the class with roll call, like many of the teachers did and just like many of the teachers, he paused when he came to Hollis's name.

"Hollis Potter… our new celebrity," he sneered, his lips curling. Hollis felt a shiver go up her back. She had gotten the sense that Snape disliked her when their eyes had met at the Welcome Feast. She knew now that he didn't dislike her. He hated her.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape took no notice of this and finished roll call. He stood before them, reminding Hollis of some sort of overgrown bat. His eyes were dark, much like Hagrid's, but they gave off the feeling of dark tunnels.

"You are in this room to learn the subtle science that is potion making. There are no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class and as such, many of you will have a hard time believing that this is magic," Snape began, his voice no higher than a whisper. He had an innate talent, much like McGonagall, of keeping a class quiet so there was no need for him to speak higher than a whisper.

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, or even put a stopper in death- if you aren't the bunch of dunderheads that I have to teach," Snape said, a slight whine in his voice. Ron and Hollis looked at each other. They looked over at Hermione, who was sitting on the edge of her seat, looking eager to prove that she wasn't stupid.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of an asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape asked abruptly, his voice suddenly loud.

Hermione's hand shot into the air but there was no need for Hermione to have raised her hand. Hollis knew the answer. She had, after all, read the course books.

"You would get a sleeping potion so strong that it is called the Draught of Living Death, sir," Hollis answered quietly, trying desperately not to make eye contact with Snape. His lip curled unpleasantly yet again. Hollis could see out of the corner of her eye Malfoy's mouth drop open.

"And where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" Snape asked again, his voice almost defensive. Hermione's hand rose yet again but everyone, including Snape, ignored her. The entire class waited with baited breath to see if Hollis could answer.

"It's a stone, found in a goat's stomach, sir. It's a common cure for most poisons," Hollis said, still not looking into Snape's tunnel like eyes.

The expression on Snape's sallow face twisted into something farther than distaste. "And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked quietly. Hermione had finally given up on being called on.

"There is none. They are the same thing and they also go by the name of aconite, sir," Hollis answered in the same tone, her eyes glued to her notebook. Snape breathed very deeply but didn't ask anything more.

"Why aren't you copying that down? Oh, and one point from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter. I didn't ask you to memorize the course book," Snape sneered. Hollis didn't retort but she must have given him a very surprised and hurt look for he smirked at her.

After the little twenty questions game between Hollis and Snape was over, Snape tasked them to mixing a simple potion that cured boils. Thankfully, Hollis was working with Ron and together they managed to work through most of the difficult stuff and create a pretty good rendition of what Snape was asking for.

However, Snape still found fault with their potion as he did with everyone else's, save Malfoy's potion. He seemed to have taken a liking to Malfoy and complemented on the 'perfect' way he stewed his horned slugs and how the green smoke that billowed from was the exact color he had described.

Poor Neville was working with Seamus and had managed to melt his cauldron, spilling the solution all over. When it started burning holes into people's shoes, that's when everyone stood on their stools. Neville, who had been drenched in his and Seamus's potion, whimpered as angry red boils appeared on his skin. Hollis winced in sympathy.

"Idiot boy! I suppose you added the porcupine quills before you took the cauldron off the fire!" Snape growled while cleaning up the solution with a wave of his wand.

"You, take him up to the Hospital Wing," Snape said while pointing a hand at Seamus who led Neville out of the room rather quickly. Snape then suddenly rounded on Hollis and Ron.

"Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Surely you must have known that would happen. Did you think it would make you look good by him getting it wrong did you? Another point from Gryffindor," Snape said before gliding away.

Hollis opened her mouth to retort but a swift kick from Ron silenced her. In fact, she had told Neville not to add the quills. He just wasn't listening or he forgot. The latter seemed highly likely.

"Don't push it with Snape. I heard he can turn nasty," Ron whispered as he brought over some dried nettles. Hollis nodded though she was trying to figure out what she did to make Snape dislike her so much.

One painful hour later, Hollis exited the frigid Dungeons, her spirits rather low. She had managed to lose two points in her first week!

"Hey, don't be upset. Fred and George get points off from Snape all the time. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?" Ron asked.

Hollis nodded, slightly cheered by the fact that she wasn't the only person that was disliked by Snape. But then again, many teachers disliked the Weasley twins.

They ate a delicious lunch and did a bit of their homework before visiting Hagrid. At five of three, Hollis and Ron left the castle and ventured outside onto the grounds. Hagrid lived on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest in a wooden hut. When they drew closer, Hollis could see a pair of huge golashes and a crossbow.

When they knocked on the door, there was a frantic scrabbling at the door and several booming barks came from inside the house.

"Back, Fang, back," said Hagrid over the barking. The door opened a crack and Hollis and Ron saw what the problem was. Hagrid was attempting to restrain an eager looking black boarhound.

"Hold on. Back Fang!" Hagrid said. Once he had a good grip on the clearly excited dog, Hagrid let them inside. As soon as the door was shut, Fang the boarhound bounded over and began to lick Hollis and Ron around the ears. He, like Hagrid, was less fierce than his countenance belayed.

"This is Ron," Hollis introduced. Ron smiled as Hagrid laughed.

"Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasing your twin brothers away from the Forest," Hagrid said with hearty laugh.

They all sat down at Hagrid's huge table and helped themselves to tea and Hagrid's rock cakes. These rock cakes were actually just lumps of dough with raisins in them that were, like their name suggested, hard as a rock. Ron and Hollis pretended to enjoy these cakes while telling Hagrid about their lessons over the week. Fang had come to rest his head on Hollis's lap, his drool flecking her skirt and robes.

"Filch is an old git alright," Hagrid growled as Ron and Hollis finished the story about Filch catching them trying to 'break into' the forbidden corridor.

Hollis and Ron couldn't help but show their delight.

"As for Mrs. Norris… well, let's just say I'd like to introduce her to Fang sometime. You know, whenever I'm in the castle, she follows me everywhere! I can't seem to get rid of her. I'd bet me house that Filch puts her up to it," Hagrid said.

"I wouldn't put it past him. But I think Snape is worse than Filch. I mean, he took two points off today for stuff I didn't even do! He asked me a load of questions that I got right and he takes a point of for memorizing the material. Then he accused me of not telling Neville not to put porcupine quills in the potion before taking the cauldron off the fire and took off a point," Hollis said heatedly.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Snape doesn't like many people," Hagrid said easily.

"The only problem is, Snape just doesn't dislike me. He hates me," Hollis said.

"Nonsense! Why shouldn't he?" Hagrid said quickly. Hollis narrowed her eyes. That answer came way too quickly for it to be the truth. Hagrid averted his gaze from Hollis and turned it to Ron.

"So how's your brother, Charlie? I liked Charlie a lot… really good with animals," Hagrid asked. Hollis didn't listen to Ron's explanation having already heard it once. She picked up a cutting from underneath a tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet.

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break in at Gringotts Bank on July 31st. It is believed that break-in was devised by dark witches or wizards unknown. The goblins insist that nothing had been taken and the vault in question, 713, had been emptied the very same day.

Hollis stopped reading. She had remembered Ron telling her about this at breakfast on Wednesday. He hadn't mentioned a date.

"Hey, Hagrid! That break-in happened on my birthday! It could have happened while we were there!" Hollis exclaimed.

Hagrid's eyes definitely didn't meet hers. He just offered her another rock cake rather loudly.

Hollis accepted the rock cake but kept her gaze on Hagrid. There was definitely something fishy going on. She and Hagrid had emptied vault number 713, if you considered taking a three inch package out of the vault emptying, and the culprit had tried to rob the same vault. What were they looking for? Were they really looking for the grubby package?

After another hour of amicable talking, Ron and Hollis made their way back to the castle, their pockets weighed down by rock cakes that they had been too polite to refuse.

Hollis had learned a lot in her first week.

But she learned more in Hagrid's cabin.

What did Hagrid not want Hollis to know about Snape and his unreasonable hatred? Why did he avoid her gaze when she asked him about the break-in?

Hollis was determined to find out.


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Harry Potter... I wish I did though... J.K. Rowling owns it...

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Chapter Seven- Of Flying and Three- Headed Dogs

Before Hollis had come to Hogwarts, she believed that she would never find a magical version of Dudley. But now, she knew that she had met a boy she hated almost as much as she hated Dudley and this rival came in the form of Draco Malfoy.

Normally, she was very tolerant of everyone around her but she couldn't stand Malfoy. Maybe it was his 'I'm better than you' attitude that drove her insane. Maybe it was his rudeness to others. Maybe it was the way he talked. Hollis thought it was a very odd mix of all three aspects.

But, she didn't have to deal with him very often, seeing how they only saw each other in Potions and were usually too busy working to throw insults at each other, though they did cast occasional glares at each other while fetching water.

Hollis thought that Potions would be the only class she would have to take with him. When she came back from Transfiguration at the end of the day, she noticed that the rest of the first years were crowded around the notice board.

"What do you think's happening?" Ron asked.

"No idea," Hollis answered truthfully. They pushed their way through the throng of people and read the notice.

"Oh no," Hollis said, her heart dropping into the pit of her stomach.

Flying lessons were due to begin on Thursday.

And the Gryffindors were with the Slytherins.

"Brilliant. I get to make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy. It's what I've always wanted," Hollis said darkly, saying the last bit sarcastically.

"You never know. You could have a natural aptitude for flying, so you don't know if you'll make a fool of yourself. But Malfoy does talk an awful lot about flying but I'm betting it's all talk," Ron said comfortingly.

Hollis nodded. Malfoy did spend an extraordinary amount of time talking about Quidditch to anyone that would listen. He seemed to pull stories out of thin air- Hollis wasn't entirely sure where he got the stories from- that all ended in narrowly avoiding Muggle helicopters.

Ron talked a lot about Quidditch as well. He told the entire house that he had run into a hang glider once on Charlie's old broom. Danny had, surprisingly, backed him up on that story by saying 'I remember that'. Danny himself liked Quidditch but had only said that he hadn't played it since he had run into a tree and got attacked by garden gnomes when he was nine. Ron was extremely passionate about Quidditch and had started an argument between him and Dean Thomas, a Muggle-Born who liked soccer. Hollis had actually seen Ron poke at the West Ham soccer team poster with his wand when Hollis had been up in the Boy's Dormitories to get the Charms homework.

And it wasn't just Ron who talked about Quidditch constantly. Anyone with magic in their family talked about Quidditch constantly.

Seamus Finnigan told all the first years over breakfast that he had spent most of his childhood zooming around on his Comet Two Sixty- Hollis had no idea what that was until Danny, who was now coming out of his shell a bit though was still particularly taken with Hollis, said that it was a type of broomstick.

Neville had tearfully explained that he had never been on a broom. His Gran wouldn't let him near one. Personally, Hollis thought Neville's grandmother had a point. Neville could manage a number of accidents that made your head hurt just by counting them with both feet on the ground.

However, people such as Hermione and Hollis, who had no magical relatives, either living or in existence, were feeling the same nervous attitude Neville was displaying. Hollis, following her logic, went to Danny and Ron who had both ridden a broomstick before and asked for tips. Hermione was a different story. She seemed appalled that Quidditch wasn't something you could learn by heart from a book or article. But she had tried to anyway.

She had taken out _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and repeatedly read aloud tips until one of the three girls- mostly Hollis for Pavarti and Lavender hardly listened to Hermione- told her politely to shut up. Neville, who was desperate for any sort of help, went back to Hermione for the tips from the book and hung onto her every word.

On the night before the Flying Lesson, Hermione attempted to read the entire book aloud to the Gryffindor girls. Hollis, who had been doing a last minute Astronomy assignment, fell asleep as she tried to label Jupiter's sixteen moons while simultaneously trying to be polite and pretend to listen to Hermione. Pavarti and Lavender, while talking in undertones to each other, tried to wake Hollis, poking her with their eagle feather quills, not paying any attention Hermione in the least.

Hermione hadn't noticed that she was giving everyone a good cure for insomnia until Pavarti had told her, rather bluntly, that she was causing Hollis to nod off on her telescope during Astronomy when Professor Sinistra was helping Seamus locate Saturn.

The next morning, Hollis had been startled awake when Lavender shrieked when a spider crawled across her trunk. She had very nearly toppled out of her bed and judging by the thump across from her, Pavarti had fallen out of her bed. Hermione had already been awake and pulling on her uniform by that time and only gave a sniff. Hollis, the only girl who wasn't afraid of spiders, took the spider off of Lavender's trunk and put it on the sill.

Not wanting to be caught in the throes of one of Hermione's now infamous lectures, Hollis had dressed as quickly as she could and shot out of the dormitory like a bullet, hoping to find Ron and the other boys. After a short five minute wait, Ron, Hollis, Seamus, Dean, Danny and Neville made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Unfortunately for them, Hermione decided to bore them all stupid with those ridiculous tips.

Hermione was still reading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ when the mail arrived.

"Thank God," Hollis muttered while casting her eyes upward. Ron raised his goblet slightly in a 'Hear, hear' gesture.

Hollis hadn't gotten anything since Hagrid's note and Malfoy, desperate for something to make fun of Hollis for, took note of this rather quickly. Whenever Hollis was looking his way, which wasn't often, he would open his packages from home like he was royalty.

An old looking horned owl dropped off the Daily Prophet to Ron. Seamus and Dean each got a letter from home. And surprisingly, Neville received something from a barn owl. Hollis and Ron looked over the top of the newspaper they were sharing and stared at Neville. Apparently, he was just as surprised as they were.

"It's from my Gran," he said while tearing open the envelope. He read the letter fairly quickly and then opened the small box that had come with the letter. He took out a marble sized glass ball that had billowing white smoke in it.

"Is that… a Remembrall, Neville?" Danny asked curiously. Neville nodded vigorously.

"Yeah. My Gran knows that I forget a lot of stuff so she must have sent it to help with that. You see, when the smoke turns red it means…. Oh," Neville explained just as the smoke in the ball turned scarlet. Hollis mentally completed the sentence in her head, seeing the look of concentration on Neville's face.

"What's this Longbottom?" Malfoy asked while snatching up Neville's Remembrall. He had seemingly come out of no where, a skill he had no doubt picked up from his favorite teacher, Snape. He had spooked Neville and had startled the rest of the first year boys including Hollis. Crabbe and Goyle were trailing behind him, a mockery of very ugly and stupid guard dogs. Ron and Hollis stood up, getting ready to make Malfoy give the ball back, but McGonagall spotted trouble faster than Aunt Petunia could spot dirt on her floors. She strode over to them.

"Is there a problem?" she asked briskly, looking directly at Malfoy. Malfoy pinked at the cheeks.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," Neville said quickly. Malfoy quickly shoved the glass ball back into Neville's hand. He wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight under a teacher's nose.

"Just looking," he muttered before walking away quickly, Crabbe and Goyle following him closely.

Hollis and Ron sat down, Ron looking slightly downcast. He had been hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy.

***

At three thirty on the dot, the first year Gryffindors walked out of the castle and onto the grassy grounds. The day was perfect; sunny, breezy, and not a cloud in sight.

They were met by a silver haired, orange eyed witch named Madam Hooch. She was the teacher that Hollis thought she felt vaguely like the wind. Now she knew why. The Slytherins were already there, waiting for them, near twenty or so broomsticks. Hollis dimly recalled Fred and George Weasley complain heartily about the school brooms. She remembered them saying that they'd vibrate if you went to high and that some of them would list to the left.

"Hurry up, get by a broom!" Madam Hooch barked. The Gryffindors hurried their pace. When they were all there and beside a broomstick, Madam Hooch began the lesson.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson. My name is Madam Hooch. Now, I want you to put your right hand over the broom and say 'Up'," Madame Hooch instructed.

"Up!" Hollis said firmly. The broom flew into her hand immediately. She briefly noticed both Ron and Hermione were giving her incredulous looks and that Madam Hooch was staring at her with a knowing look on her face.

Not everyone's broom had jumped into their hands at once. Many stayed stubbornly on the ground. Hermione's rolled around. Neville's didn't move at all.

When they all had their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch continued.

"Now, mount your brooms, like this," she said while demonstrating. They did so- Hollis actually did it right the first time instinctually- and Madam Hooch walked around, sometimes correcting their grips or their mounts entirely. Ron and Hollis were delighted when Madam Hooch told Malfoy he had been doing it wrong since the start.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off on the ground, hard. Hover in the air for a minute, lean forward slightly, and touch back down. On my whistle, three, two…" Madam Hooch started.

Neville had kicked off the ground before Madam Hooch brought the whistle to her lips. He had been so anxiety ridden, that he had jumped ahead. He kept floating higher and higher, his terrified yelps becoming more distant, quieter.

"Young man! Get down here this instant!" Madam Hooch barked. Neville's broom- Hollis was certain that Neville wasn't doing it- zoomed forward, sending him on a nightmarish roller coaster of zigzags, dips, and dives.

Neville started falling off. Hollis could see his pallid face as his legs slipped, his grip loosening. The broom jerked forward and Neville fell off completely. Luckily, he wasn't that high. But he did fall hard and everyone heard the sickening crack issuing from Neville's arm. The Gryffindors and Madam Hooch rushed over to the fallen Neville.

Madam Hooch was looking as pale as Neville was when she helped him into a sitting position.

"It's a broken wrist… poor boy… Come on, up you get," Madam Hooch murmured while pulling him to his feet and putting an am around him.

"Nobody is to move while I take this boy to the Hospital Wing. If I see one broom in the air, the one riding it will be out of here before they can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear," Madam Hooch said while leading Neville back to the castle.

Once they were gone, Malfoy burst out laughing. Hollis felt her temper start to rise.

"Did you see the look on his face, the great lump?" he laughed hysterically. The other Slytherins joined in, spurred on by Malfoy's outburst.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Pavarti said bravely. Pansy Parkinson, the pug-face girl, sneered at her.

"I didn't know you liked fat, cry babies, Pavarti," she teased. Pavarti turned red.

"Oh, look! It's that stupid ball that Longbottom's gran sent him," Malfoy said while bending down. The glass Remembrall glittered in the sun.

"Give that here Malfoy," Hollis said while holding out her hand, her broom in the other. Her voice was dangerously low and everyone had stopped talking and laughing to listen.

"No, I don't think I will. I'm thinking about leaving it somewhere for Longbottom to find," he said while mounting his broom.

"How 'bout up a tree?" he sneered while taking off. He hadn't been lying. He could fly well. Hollis made up her mind in an instant. She mounted her broom as well. Hermione grabbed her shoulder.

"Holly, no. Madam Hooch told us not to move! You're going to get us all in trouble," she snapped. Hollis ignored her. She took off.

Everything completely disappeared around her as she rose. This was amazing… this was absolutely wonderful… it was easy… it felt familiar, like she was being reunited with an old friend. She felt a shiver go up her spine as she felt the wind swirl around her hands. It was just her, the broom and the wind now.

She pulled herself back to reality and, wanting to push her limits, brought the tip of the broom up slightly, spurring it forward. She heard screams, gasps, and an admiring whoop- Ron's no doubt- below her. Malfoy was looking paler and more pinched than normal.

"Give that here or I'll knock you off that broom!" Hollis said.

"Oh yeah?" Malfoy said his voice full of bravado. Hollis wasn't fooled though. She could tell that he was worried.

Hollis leaned forward on the broom and it shot forward almost like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way. Hollis performed a tight U-turn, bringing her broom around to face Malfoy once more.

"There's no Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Hollis taunted. Malfoy seemed to realize this for he made a split second decision. He wound up his arm and threw the Remembrall as hard as he could.

Amazingly, the clear ball seemed to fall in slow motion. She urged her broom forward and she shot past Malfoy. She pushed the tip downward, going into a dive. She held out her hand, her fingernails just barely scraping the glass surface. She put on an extra burst of speed. The ground was getting awfully close now. She reached out for the Remembrall again and this time, her fingers closed around it.

She pulled up out of the dive and landed lightly on the ground. Ron was leading the Gryffindor first years that were running towards Hollis at top speed and she suddenly found herself surrounded by admiring fans and friends. She failed to notice a white lipped, strict looking witch make her way onto the grassy field.

"HOLLIS POTTER!"

Hollis felt her heart fall into her feet and her face pale. It was McGonagall and she looked furious. Her lips were stark white and she was trembling slightly.

"Come with me," McGonagall said in a low voice, mumbling things under her breath about 'breaking her neck' and 'never have seen flying quite like that'. Hollis felt like crying. She had barely lasted four weeks and she was already expelled. She tried imagining arriving back at the Dursley's trying to explain what had happened.

Surprisingly, they didn't go to the Transfiguration classroom like Hollis thought they would at first. They came to a stop at the Charms classroom. She opened the door and knocked on the frame politely.

"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick; may I borrow Wood for a moment?" McGonagall asked. Hollis stared at McGonagall's back confusedly. Was 'wood' a cane she was going to hit her with?

A moment later, a burly fifteen year old boy, whose name was Wood, exited the classroom. He looked curiously at Hollis and she just smiled nervously back to him. She didn't know what was going on but she really wanted to find out.

They went to the Transfiguration classroom where McGonagall forced Peeves out. She shut the door.

"Professor, what's all this about?" Wood asked.

"Wood, I've found you a seeker," McGonagall said, a happy and gleeful tone in her voice. Wood's mouth dropped open but he quickly shut it. Hollis stared quizzically at the both of them.

"You can't be serious, Professor. Her? She's only a first year," Wood said.

"I know full well who's a first year and who's not, Wood. But this girl's a natural. I've never seen anything like it before. She caught a Remembrall- hold it up Potter- out of a fifty foot, steep dive. She didn't even scratch herself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?" McGonagall said. Hollis nodded. She still didn't have any idea where this was going.

Wood looked excited now. "Have you ever seen a game of Quidditch?" Wood asked her eagerly. Hollis shook her head no, some feeling coming back into her legs. But what did Quidditch have to do with her? Then it clicked. Did… did they want her to play Quidditch for Gryffindor house?

"She's just the build for Seeker too… light, speedy, small… we'll have to get her a decent broom, Professor. A Nimbus 2000 or Cleansweep 7, I'd say," Wood continued, circling Hollis.

"I'll talk to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can bend the first year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Steam rolled in the final match against Slytherin. I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…" McGonagall said. Hollis felt her eyes widen in disbelief. They did want her to play Quidditch.

McGonagall looked at her sternly. "I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I might change my mind about punishing you," she said. Hollis nodded, a feeling of intense relief flooding into her veins.

McGonagall suddenly smiled. "Your father would have been proud. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself," she said softly.

Hollis felt her face redden and she looked down at her feet, but she knew that she would never hear any praise higher than that.

***

"No. Bloody. Way."

Hollis smiled broadly as she finished whispering her story in Ron's ear. The piece of steak that was halfway to his open mouth flopped back down on his plate pathetically.

"First years never make it on the House team. You must be the youngest Seeker in a…" Ron started.

"Century, I know. Wood told me. But don't tell anyone I got on the team. Wood wants to keep it a secret," Hollis warned. Ron nodded, a wide grin splitting his face. Hollis noticed that the Weasley twins were edging closer to where she and Ron were sitting. Hollis cocked a brow at them and they, knowing that they had been seen, walked at a normal pace the rest of the way.

They bent down to whisper something in Hollis's ear.

"Well done, Holly. Wood's just told us that you got on the team. We're on the team too, beaters," Fred said with a slight smile.

"You must be good, Holly; Wood was almost skipping when he told us. Well, we have to go now. Lee Jordan's claiming he found another secret passageway out of the school behind the statue of Jeremy the Smarmy that we found in our first week," George said. Fred gave Hollis a pat on the back and they left.

"Having a last meal, Potter?"

Hollis had been expecting this visit for quite sometime. She turned to face Malfoy, a cool expression on her face.

"You're a lot braver now that you're on the ground and your cronies are by you side," she said smoothly.

"I would and can take you on anytime on my own. How about tonight? A wizard's duel. No contact, only magic. You do know what a wizard's duel is, right?" Malfoy scoffed. Before Malfoy could read Hollis's confused look, Ron answered for her.

"Of course she has. I'm her second. Who's yours?" he said angrily. Malfoy looked slightly taken aback but Hollis noticed that he, nonetheless, started sizing up Crabbe and Goyle. Hollis thought it wouldn't make much a difference. They were equally as big and stupid.

"Crabbe," Malfoy said finally. "Meet us in the trophy room at midnight. The trophy room's always unlocked."

They stalked away. Hollis rounded on Ron.

"Ron, what is a wizard's duel? And what do you mean by second?" Hollis asked.

"A wizard's duel is a battle between two wizards. A second's there to take over if you die, but people only die in proper duels," Ron explained, adding the last part very quickly, most likely due to the shock and horror on Hollis's face. "The most you and Malfoy will be able to do is shoot sparks at each other."

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose, though I doubt that will happen."

Someone cleared there throat. Ron threw down his silverware, abandoning his dinner once more. "Can't anyone eat in peace in this place?" he asked loudly and agitatedly.

"I couldn't help but overhear you and Malfoy…" Hermione Granger started off, sounding slightly pompous. Ron muttered something that sounded like 'Bet you could'.

"You can't go sneaking around after curfew! Think about all the points you could lose if you're caught which is bound to happen. It's really selfish," Hermione said.

"And it's really none of your business," Hollis snapped, thoroughly irritated by Hermione's harping.

Ron nodded feverishly in agreement.

Hermione harrumphed, stuck up her nose and stalked away, not bothering to stay for desert.

***

Hollis waited until everyone was asleep before going down to the Common Room. Ron wasn't there yet. She sat down on a chair, wrapping her bathrobe securely around her thin body. It was bound to be frigid in the castle at this time of night.

She heard Ron come down the spiral stairs before she saw him. He looked distinctly ruffled and annoyed. Hollis highly suspected it was Hermione that was getting on his nerves.

"Come on let's go," Hollis whispered while getting up. They exited the portrait hole together and started down the Fat Lady's corridor. They heard the portrait hole open again. They whirled around, hoping to whatever higher being was listening that it wasn't Percy.

And it wasn't him.

It was Hermione. "I can't believe you're actually doing this, Holly," she said.

"You! You just couldn't keep out of our business could you," Ron hissed.

"I almost told your brother, Percy. He's a prefect. He wouldn't stand for this," Hermione said disdainfully. Hollis would have dearly loved to say 'How can you be so interfering' but decided on a glare.

Hollis turned and grabbed Ron's shoulder. "Come on," she whispered. But Hermione was persistent. She followed them, hissing in a way that reminded Hollis of an angry duck mixed with a cat.

"You don't care about Gryffindor do you? You only care about yourselves! You're are going to get caught and lose all the points Professor McGonagall gave me for knowing about switching spells!" she said angrily. Hollis was going to reply back with some smart aleck-y remark but her feet caught on something and she sprawled on the stone floor.

The thing she had tripped on was a slipper. A slipper attached to someone's ankle which was, in turn, attached to someone's leg.

It was Neville.

"Neville?" Ron asked as he helped Hollis to her feet. Neville woke up and looked at them, looking ready to kiss them.

"Oh, thank you for finding me!" he wailed thankfully.

"How's your wrist?" Hollis asked while holding out a hand. Neville took it and Hollis hauled him to his feet.

"Madame Pomfrey mended it in about a minute. I'm fine," Neville said.

"What are you doing out here though?" Ron asked.

"I was released from the Hospital Wing ages ago, but I couldn't remember the password into the Gryffindor Tower. So, I waited out here until someone would come along and let me in. But no one came and I've been stuck out here ever since," Neville explained.

"The password's 'Pig snout', but we can't let you into the Common Room right now, Neville. We, uh, have somewhere to be," Hollis said. Neville grabbed her arm.

"Don't leave me here! The Bloody Baron's been by here twice already!" he cried. Ron and Hollis looked at each other. Was it worth it?

"Alright, you can come with us. And will you just go back to bed?!" Ron said after a consenting nod from Hollis. Hermione had started squawking indignantly.

"Shut up!" Hollis hissed as they excited the Fat Lady's corridor and walked silently onto the landing of the Seventh Floor. Hermione was still muttering furiously to herself, looking half apprehensive half disapproving. It was quite a look. Neville was not talking at all, still clinging to Hollis's bathrobe, but looking slightly joyous to finally have someone to be with. Ron was looking particularly tense and alert, something that was extremely out of character for he was quite easy going. Hollis herself was very tense, and every muscle and tendon in her body was coiled and tight, her body ready to flee if there was a need to.

The managed to sneak into the Trophy Room- which was located on the second floor- with five minutes to spare. The four of them remained hidden in the shadows, waiting for any sign of a rustling cloak, whether it be a teacher's or Malfoy's. Midnight came and went.

"Where are they?" Ron whispered furiously in Hollis's ear. Hollis shrugged, her eyes straining in the darkness.

They heard someone stumble in the darkness and the soft patter of an animal's paws. They heard a muffled curse and then…

"Sniff around, my sweet… they're around here somewhere…"

Hollis felt her stomach turn to lead. It was the voice they had been dreading to hear ever since the first day, that same, oily greasy voice that had greeted them when they tried to force their way into the forbidden corridor.

Filch.

Hollis could see the dim outline of Mrs. Norris and her lamp like eyes cutting through the darkness like a knife through butter. She was very close to them. Hollis's heart hammered in her chest as she racked her brain for some, any, idea.

It wasn't needed.

The four of them heard several loud bangs and maniacal cackling. They knew immediately that it was Peeves, who was, for a change, up to no good.

"PEEVES!" Filch roared before he and Mrs. Norris bustled off to who knew where. Neville, Hermione, Ron and Hollis sprinted out of the Trophy Room and vaulted up the stairs.

They had met Peeves along the way.

"Oooh… what's this? Ickle Firsties out of bed?" Peeves laughed in his oily voice. Hollis felt her face pale. Whatever Peeves was planning, Hollis knew it wouldn't end well for them.

"Peeves… no…" Ron whispered. Hollis shut her eyes, her legs tensing in anticipation to run.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT BED! IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" Peeves screeched. They moved as one group, flinging themselves up the stairs to the nearest door.

And that nearest door happened to be the out of bounds one. They heard Filch's wheezing breath over Peeves's cackling. Hollis yanked at the handle, hoping that it would just burst open.

"Oh no, we're done for!" Ron moaned quietly. Hermione rolled her eyes and snatched Hollis's wand out of her hand.

"Move over! Alohomora!" she snapped. The door swung open and the four Gryffindors crowded inside.

They heard Filch's exchange with Peeves that ended with Filch cursing both the students and the poltergeist. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Hollis turned around, her back resting against the door. That had certainly been close. Hollis looked around, noticing a very dark shape in the forbidden corridor. Her mouth dropped open as she finally figured it out what it was.

"He still thinks this door is locked!" Ron said incredulously. Hermione rolled her eyes again.

"This door was locked," Hermione said impatiently.

"And for good reason," Hollis said, her voice squeaking. Neville, who was white and shaken to begin with as soon as Filch's voice had floated into the Trophy Room, went ash white. Ron paled to the color of puce. Hermione's lower lip trembled as she blanched.

There was a huge dog in the room with them. And it had three heads.

And it was waking up.

Obviously agitated by their unfamiliar scents, the dog growled menacingly, its bloodshot, yellow eyes narrowing in sudden aggression.

The four Gryffindors let out four bloodcurdling screams and bolted out of the door and locked it before the dog could figure out what to do with them. They sprinted up the stairs at top speed, and were not caught again by Filch or Peeves.

They came back to the Fat Lady's corridor where they sprinted the last lengths to the Portrait Hole. The Fat Lady gave a loud snort as their noise woke her.

"My, my! What are you all doing out?" she asked.

"Never mind that! Pig snout, pig snout, PIG SNOUT!" Hollis panted loudly. The Fat Lady swung open the Portrait Hole, looking aghast and slightly confused.

Once they were in the Common Room again, Ron seemed to have found his voice, though he was still very white.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in school? If any dog needs exercise, it's that one!" Ron said vehemently. Hermione, though still shaken, gave a pompous, all knowing snort.

"Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked smugly as they walked up the spiral staircase to their respected Dormitories.

"I'm sorry, I was too busy looking at its heads! I didn't exactly have the urge to look at its feet when the thing itself has three heads!" Hollis snapped, her shock and terror getting the better of her.

"It was standing on a trapdoor which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something," Hermione said while stopping at the Girl's Dormitories. Hollis and Ron looked at each other. Neville looked very confused.

"Guarding something?" Hollis repeated skeptically. It sounded far-fetched but Hermione did have a valid point.

"That's right. Now, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea that could get us killed, or worse… expelled," Hermione sniffed while opening the door to the dormitories and closing it in Hollis's face, literally.

"She needs to sort out her priorities," Ron muttered as they parted, Hollis rubbing her sore nose furiously.

She opened the door to the Girl's Dormitories and saw that Hermione had already drawn the hangings around her bed. Hollis sighed and climbed into her own bed. What a night.

She'd have to draw that three-headed dog sometime.

80


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, I suck at these bar thingys... oh well, here's chapter eight of On the Wings of Change! I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does, la di da di da... Update please or might consider updating late...

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Chapter Eight- Of Mountain Trolls and Quidditch Matches

Hollis had to stuff her fist in her mouth when she saw Malfoy's look of disbelief shining on his face when he saw her and Ron walk into the Great Hall the next morning. They were extremely tired and still running slightly on shock, but they were, in a way, looking forward to their next adventure.

"He must have tipped Filch off or something," Hollis remarked casually as she sat down. They had, no doubt, figured out that Malfoy was trying to get them expelled or at least in trouble.

"Git," Ron muttered angrily. Hollis nodded in agreement.

"What do you think's hidden underneath the trapdoor, if there is one?" Ron asked through a mouthful of toast. Hollis stopped eating for a minute. She debated on telling Ron what she and Hagrid had done at Gringotts when they were in Diagon Alley.

"Actually, I had been thinking about that. Remember how I told you that Hagrid took me school shopping? Well, aside from picking up some money, we stopped at another vault, number 713 if I remember correctly. Inside was this grubby little two inch package. I think that's what down there," Hollis said in a whisper. Ron's mouth dropped open but he closed it quickly.

"It's either really dangerous or really valuable," Ron said finally after a very long pause.

"Or both," Hollis said while spooning a bit of her oatmeal.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed any interest in the dog or the trapdoor. Hermione was downright refusing to talk to them now, and all Neville cared about was not going near that dog again.

With Hermione not speaking to them, Ron's moods were definitely a lot more cheerful. Come to think of it, Hollis's moods were a lot more cheerful now. Hermione's know-it-all attitude was irritating and Hollis found that it was better to fly off the handle as soon as she started talking to you instead of trying to tolerate her.

A couple of loud screeches caught their attention.

"Mail's here," Ron muttered before he resumed shoveling his eggs into his mouth like a ravenous wolf.

As the owl's swooped down from the rafters to deliver mail, Hollis scanned the skies hopefully. When she caught no sign of Hedwig amongst the throng of browns and blacks, she returned to her oatmeal.

However, she was slightly surprised when Ron reached across the table and shook her shoulder and pointed upwards.

There were four large Barn owls carrying a large but slender package between them. Hollis raised an eyebrow.

"Who do you think that's for?" Hollis asked.

Ron opened his mouth, as if to answer, but his answer was cut off when the four barn owls dropped the package on Hollis's plate.

Ron and Hollis looked at each other. It was a rare occasion when Hollis got a letter. Hollis getting a package was like Snape handing out sweets and being nice to the Gryffindors or, in other words, unheard of.

Hollis tore the letter open- which was a lucky thing really- and read it quickly.

_DO NOT OPEN THIS PARCEL AT THE TABLE!_

_It contains your new Nimbus 2000 but don't tell anyone that you've been sent one or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you on the Quidditch Pitch at seven o'clock tonight._

_Professor McGonagall_

Hollis smiled hugely as she passed the note to Ron. Ron gave a sound that sounded eerily like a squeal and a gasp.

"A Nimbus 2000! I've never even touched one!" Ron murmured in ecstasy. Hollis got up hastily from her seat at the table and with Ron following closely at her heels, they made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

As if to put the icing on the cake, they met Malfoy halfway to the seventh floor.

He saw the slender package immediately and snatched it away from Hollis's hands. He felt it and then threw it back to Hollis.

"That's a broomstick. You'll be back with the Muggles for sure this time," Malfoy sneered.

Ron couldn't help himself.

"That's not just any old broom Malfoy! That's a Nimbus 2000! What have you got back at home? A Comet Two Sixty?" Ron said. Malfoy fumbled for a bit but he recovered

"What would you know? You couldn't afford half the handle!" Malfoy snapped.

"What seems to be the problem?"

It was Professor Flitwick, who was making his way back to the third floor to begin the day's lesson. Malfoy was quick to tell him the problem.

"Potter's been sent a broom, Professor," Malfoy said. Professor Flitwick smiled.

"Ah, yes! Professor McGonagall was telling me all about the special circumstances. And what make is it?" he asked politely.

"A Nimbus 2000, sir," Hollis replied. Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and laughed a bell like laugh.

"Very good, very good… well off you go!" Flitwick said cheerfully before waddling away. Malfoy only stared open mouthed at them and Flitwick's retreating form before stalking away.

Hollis and Ron hurried up to Gryffindor Tower as quickly as they could before they burst into laughter.

"That was brilliant! Did you see his face?" Ron said through a fit of giggles. Hollis nodded, too overcome by laughter to say much.

"So you think that's a reward for breaking the rules?"

The huffy voice came from none other than Hermione Granger who was looking at them with a look of utter disdain.

Hollis, who had now recovered from her giggles, didn't answer with words. She only gave her a look. Of course she didn't think this was a reward for breaking the rules. She had thought that she had seen the end of her Hogwarts education. She didn't expect to be put on the Quidditch Team.

Ron, however, was taking this statement not as seriously as Hollis was.

"What, you're talking to us again? Don't start because it was doing us so much good," Ron said angrily. Hermione only sniffed and stomped away. Hollis gave Ron a look but Ron looked anywhere and everywhere except Hollis's eyes.

"Come on. We can go up to the Girl's Dormitories for now. But if you tell anyone about this, I'll strangle you," Hollis warned. Ron nodded eagerly.

Hollis went up the stairs first, knowing that if Ron did, the stairs would slip out from underneath him.

They were greeted by Artemus who had apparently just gotten back from the grounds judging from the dew on her paws. Hollis scratched her ears before Artemus dashed away again once again.

Ron and Hollis unwrapped the broomstick. It rolled out onto Hollis's bed and she felt her mouth drop open.

"Wow," she said quietly. She looked at Ron who was looking like he was on Cloud Nine.

Hollis had to admit, even though she knew nothing about brooms, it was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen. It was a deep mahogany, polished and stained to perfection. All of its twigs in the tail were perfectly straight and neat. The handle was glossy and its make was embossed in spindly gold lettering.

"I don't know about you, but I, personally, can't wait to ride this thing," Hollis said in earnest.

Ron was still on Cloud Nine.

***

Hollis found it was increasingly hard to pay attention to her classes that day. Her mind kept drifting back to the dormitory, or, if you wanted to be specific, her trunk where her new broomstick was locked.

For a while, it seemed like the school day wouldn't end. When dinner finally rolled around, Hollis was nearly trembling with excitement. When the clock read five of seven, Hollis bid Ron goodbye and he flashed a smile and a thumbs up.

She managed to find her way to the pitch, even through the darkness. The stadium itself was jaw dropping. Hundreds of seats were elevated sky high in tall, tower- like stands. Three golden hoops that looked eerily like the plastic sticks that Muggles used to blow bubbles with were on each end of the field, save for the fact that they were fifty feet high.

Oliver Wood was not there yet. Hollis looked around, all of a sudden feeling very nervous. She decided to take an experimental ride on the Nimbus, just let off her nerves.

She recalled how to mount the broomstick and how to kick off. The rest she did instinctually.

She raced around the pitch, feeling extremely happy, near euphoric. Though she had flown before, this was nothing compared to what she was doing now. Fred and George were right. The school brooms were slow. The Nimbus, however, was something completely different. It was absolutely amazing and the Nimbus seemed to obey her slightest touch.

A rough voice broke through her giddy haze.

"Hey, Potter! Come down!" Wood called, his voice sounding far away.

Hollis looked down and saw the broad shouldered fifteen year old she had met earlier in the week. He was carrying a large crate under his arm. She turned expertly and brought the broom down into a dive. She landed lightly on the ground.

Wood looked very impressed. "That's very good. I see what McGonagall meant now. You are a natural," Wood said sounding just as euphoric as Hollis had been moments ago. Wood, not giving her time to say thanks, cut to the chase.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you the basics tonight and then you'll be joining the team for practice three times a week. I'll give you a schedule tomorrow or the next day. Now, Quidditch is easy to understand though understanding it and playing it are two different ball games, no pun intended. There are seven players on each side. Three of these players are called Chasers," Wood started, going slow for Hollis's sake.

"Okay, three Chasers," Hollis said, feeling the need to repeat Wood. Wood smiled and picked up a red, soccer ball sized ball.

"This is called the Quaffle. The Chasers toss around the Quaffle, in hopes of getting it through one of those three hoops. For every time the Quaffle goes through the hoops, the team that scores gets ten points. You get it?" Wood asked.

"Yeah, I think so. So the Chasers go around and try to score points with Quaffle," Hollis said.

"Yes, exactly. There's another player called the Keeper. Now, the Keeper is the exact opposite of the Chasers. The Keeper has to fly around and defend the hoops, to keep the other team from scoring. I'm the Keeper for Gryffindor," Wood said while gesturing to himself.

Hollis nodded. He was right. Quidditch was easy enough to understand. "Okay, so three Chasers, one Keeper, and they play with the Quaffle. Now, what are those?" Hollis asked suspiciously, pointing two one of the two jet black balls that were quivering underneath their restraints. Wood smiled wryly.

"You'd better take this," Wood said as he handed her a bat that looked something like a baseball bat only shorter.

"These are the Bludgers, and I'm going to show you what they do, but keep a good a hold on that bat. Stand back," Wood cautioned. Hollis obliged, not wanting to be in a Bludger's path.

Once Wood had released the restraint on one of the Bludgers, the thing rocketed upward. It sped back down, right towards Hollis. Acting on instinct, she swung the bat and it met the Bludger with a loud crack. It zigzagged away and Wood gave her another impressed look.

"Not bad. You could make a fair Beater. Uh oh."

The Bludger was back now and Wood met it head on. He caught it and Hollis heard the air in Wood's lungs leave his chest in a great 'whoosh'. He wrestled with the ball for a minute, and then managed to get it back into its rightful place, underneath the restraints.

"Okay, well, that was a Bludger. The Bludgers rocket around and try to knock people off their brooms. The Beaters fly around with those bats and try to protect the players from getting knocked around too much but also try to thwart the other teams by sending Bludgers their way. The Weasley Twins are our Beaters, and they are more than a match for the Bludgers. They're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves," Wood panted.

Hollis nodded, feeling slightly apprehensive now. She knew that as Seeker she wouldn't have to worry about those balls- unless the Bludgers knocked her off her broom of course- but what did she have to worry about?

"You, however, are a Seeker and Seekers don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers. All I want you to worry about is this," Wood said while pulling out a small, walnut sized ball. It was gold and it had slim, silvery fluttering wings. It was struggling against Wood's hand.

"This is the Golden Snitch and it is the most important ball in the game. It's the Seeker's job to fly around and look for the Snitch and when they do see it, catch it. But that's just the easy part. The Snitch is so small and fast that is almost near impossible to see. The Seekers are undoubtedly the most important player because if one of the Seekers catches the Snitch, their team is awarded one hundred and fifty points, so they almost always win. But not only that, when the Snitch is caught, the game is over. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. Do you get what you're supposed to do?" Wood explained.

Hollis nodded. Wood smiled again while putting the Snitch away.

"We won't practice with the Snitch tonight. It's too dark and we could lose it. But I brought these with me," Wood said while holding up a bag of Muggle golf balls. A few minutes later, they were both up in the air, Wood hurling golf balls as hard as he could in every direction. Hollis didn't miss any of them.

Even in the dark, Hollis could see the gleeful look on Wood's face as they landed.

***

It was hard to believe that Hollis had been at Hogwarts for two months. But, given how busy she was with Quidditch practice and schoolwork, maybe it wasn't so surprising. However, she was surprised at how well she fit in at Hogwarts, even with her Elemental abilities.

When the tower awoke on Halloween morning, they were greeted with the smell of cooking pumpkin and the tittering of real live bats. The Gryffindor first years were excited. Ever since the time Professor Flitwick had made Trevor, Neville's toad, fly around the classroom, they had been dying to try the levitation charm. As a Holiday treat- and because they were ready to try a Levitation Charm-, they were going to attempt to do the charm, Wingardium Leviosa.

The entire classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone filed into the classroom.

"Now, remember the swish and flick wrist movement we've been practicing. And annunciate! You don't want to end up like Wizard Baruffio who said the wrong letter and ended up on the floor with a buffalo on his chest!" he chimed merrily.

Hollis ended up working with Seamus Finnigan. Not that was a bad thing- better than working with Neville- but Seamus had a tendency to light things on fire with his wand. Seamus smiled at her brightly. Hollis returned the smile half heartedly, slightly worried, more for the desk's sake than her own.

It wasn't as easy as it looked. Hollis had managed to make her and Seamus's feather vibrate, the top half rising off the desk but nothing more. When Seamus tried to do it nothing happened. He tried, and tried but then got so frustrated with it that he prodded the thing and set it on fire. Before Professor Flitwick could figure out what was going on, Hollis put out the fire with her notebook, sufficiently burning her fingers.

Hollis sighed when she sensed Ron's attitude.

Ron had gotten paired with Hermione and Hollis wasn't about to venture into their minds to figure out who was more angry about this arrangement. Ron's face had already taken on a beet red color and Hollis could see Hermione's eyes starting to spark dangerously.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron said, his long arms waving like a windmill.

Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed one of Ron's arms. "Stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out if you keep doing it like that. And you're saying it wrong! Make the 'gar' nice and long!" Hermione snapped.

"You do it then!" Ron growled angrily. Hermione sniffed and whipped out her wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione said clearly. The class went quiet as the feather rose up and up and up…

"Well done! You see, Ms. Granger's done it!"

Ron was not very happy for the rest of class.

***

"She's a nightmare, honestly! 'Make the 'gar' nice and long'! No one can stand her and she wonders why she hasn't got any friends!" Ron vented as they exited the classroom. Hollis was just about to reprimand Ron for speaking so loud and so rudely about someone but she was cut off by someone storming past her.

It was Hermione and she was crying. Hollis rounded on Ron, her startled mood making her seem angrier than she really was.

"I think she heard you," Hollis said tartly, giving Ron a displeased look. Ron looked off to the side, looking more than a bit uncomfortable.

"Listen, I have to go to the Hospital Wing to get something for these stupid burns. Can you tell McGonagall where I am?" Hollis asked. Ron mumbled something like, 'Sure Holly' before hurrying away.

When she arrived in Transfiguration, she noticed immediately that Hermione wasn't there. Hollis handed Professor McGonagall the note Madame Pomfrey had scrawled moments earlier and quickly sat down.

She looked at Ron. He didn't meet her eyes and still looked distinctly uncomfortable. Hollis felt something papery hit the back of her neck. She grabbed it, being as quiet as possible- she did sit in the back but McGonagall had the ears of hawk- and unfolded the paper bird. She read Pavarti's flowery script:

Where's Hermione?

Hollis quickly wrote an answer back.

I don't know. I'll look for her before lunch. We have a free period then.

She sent the note back and Pavarti heaved a silent sigh when she read it. Hollis gave her a sheepish look. Pavarti shook her head and jerked it towards Ron, who had his eyes glued onto the board.

Hollis couldn't help but agree with Pavarti.

***

Hermione didn't reappear for the rest of the classes. Hollis had attempted to look for her during the free period but Wood had cornered her in the last five minutes, just as she was about to look in the Girl's Bathroom.

Hollis didn't see Hermione at lunch or the rest of the afternoon. Just as dinner started, Danny came and sat next to Hollis, which was unusual because every time Hollis was in speaking distance of Danny, he would blush profusely and refuse to talk to anybody.

"Pavarti says the Hermione's in the Girl's Bathroom. She's been there all afternoon, crying," Danny told her. Hollis made a noise that sounded like a sigh mixed with an exasperated laugh.

"Thanks, Danny. Do you think I should go… you know… fish her out?" Hollis asked.

Danny shook his head no, looking very nervous. "Pavarti also said that she wanted to be left alone, and you know how she gets when she loses her temper. She can be quite nasty," Danny said, his face slowly taking on a reddish hue.

"Alright. Well, it's her loss," Hollis sighed. Danny smiled slightly before taking his customary seat by Dean's side. And it truly was. Carved Jack-o-Lanterns broke up the table every few feet and thousands of live bats swooped jerkily around, making the floating candles flicker every once in a while.

When dinner was served, Hermione was pushed to the back of Hollis's mind. Even Ron, who had been in a strange mood all day, was acting normal again. How could they not? The food, as usual, was delicious, and the decorations were spectacular.

Hollis laughed at one of Seamus's jokes as she helped herself to a second helping of potatoes but she was cut off as the oak doors swung open noisily to reveal a terrified Professor Quirrell. His absurd purple turban was slightly lopsided, as if he had done it in a hurry, and his face was white as a sheet.

"Troll! In the dungeons! Troll, in the dungeons!" he cried, his voice ripping and breaking through, at least, three octaves.

The Hall was very still and silent. Dumbledore stood up.

"Thought you ought to know," Quirrell whispered before sinking to the floor in a dead faint.

It was silent for a minute and then there was noise that sounded like a bomb went off. All of the students were in an uproar and it took a loud explosion that sounded like a cannon and a loud 'Silence' on Dumbledore's part to quiet them.

When Dumbledore had done this, everyone froze where they were, shocked and startled to hear Dumbledore speak so loudly.

"Everyone, please, do not panic! Prefects, lead your house back the Dormitories immediately," he said in the same loud voice. It sounded vaguely like thunder rumbling.

Percy jumped into action at once. He shouted over the throng of people, herding all the first years together while simultaneously trying to keep all the upperclassmen out of trouble.

Hollis had to hand it to him. He really was in his element when it came to bossing people around.

"Alright, first years, stick together!" he yelled continually. Hollis stayed very close to Ron and Danny, who had once again appeared beside Hollis, looking faintly protective of something or someone. Then a terrible thought dawned on Hollis. She grabbed Ron's arm.

"Don't ask me how a troll could get it 'cause I don't know. They're supposed to be really stupid. I think Peeves may have let it as a joke," Ron said, taking Hollis's petrified look as one of questioning.

"No, idiot! Hermione! She doesn't know!" Hollis said quietly but earnestly.

Ron was looking uncomfortable again. He bit his lip.

"Go and warn Hermione about the troll. I'll keep Percy busy," Danny suddenly hissed. They both nodded and disappeared into a group of Hufflepuffs. They sprinted towards the Girl's Bathroom, sometimes stopping to see if either a teacher or a Prefect were following them or, worse, right in front of them.

The stopped again and stepped into a niche. Ron looked around warily but a horrid smell graced their nostrils. Hollis put the wide, billowy sleeve of her robe to her nose and mouth, her face paling significantly.

"What is that smell?" Hollis asked, her inquiry muffled, but Ron smashed his large hand across her mouth, silencing her.

He mouthed 'Percy'. Hollis then became unnaturally still.

But it wasn't Percy that passed by. It was Snape.

He stalked by, not even noticing them or the terrible smell. But Hollis didn't care about that. What was he doing? He was supposed to be down in the Dungeons with the rest of the teachers. Not heading to the third floor. Wait… the third floor…?

"What's he doing here?" Ron hissed.

"Search me," Hollis said in the same hurried tone as she ripped off Ron's hand. They sprinted to the next niche in the hallway, the smell becoming stronger. Ron's nose crinkled. Hollis felt like throwing up. The smell was a mixture of old gym socks and a public restroom, the one that no one cleans.

Ron was about to hurry off again but Hollis gripped his arm again.

"Wait… do you hear that?" Hollis said, cocking her head slightly to the left.

"Hear what…" Ron said trailing off. They both heard it now. The shuffling of gigantic footsteps and the grunts of something both very large and very stupid seemed both was very hard to miss.

Ron and Hollis looked up to the mouth of the hallway. They saw the hulking shadow of what they assumed was the troll- it could be nothing else- heading right towards… the Girls' Bathroom.

"Hermione!" Hollis yelled as she sprinted forward. Ron followed clumsily behind her. When they heard the petrified scream coming from the Girls' Bathroom, they knew that they had guessed right.

Hollis and Ron both ran right into the bathroom, without hesitation. They saw Hermione, looking terrified and pale, cowering underneath the porcelain sinks. But even more alarming was the troll itself. It was gray and its skin was lumpy and looked two sizes too large for the troll. It had a small head shaped like a coconut and it had long gorilla like arms. And in those arms was a club the size of a small tree.

Hollis acted more on instinct than she did thought. She ignored Ron's look of wonder as she clenched her hand into a fist and she felt the familiar fire encase her hands. She used her other hand to blow air past the troll's face as well as small fire balls to confuse it. There might as well been a draft in the place. It didn't notice a thing.

"Confuse it!" Hollis said desperately to Ron as she abandoned her powers to use a piece of the debris that littered the floor. Ron didn't delay any longer. They hurled the pieces of wood with all of their might but the troll still didn't notice anything. Hollis pulled out her wand but she suddenly realized that Flipendo wasn't going to do much.

At a loss of what else to do, Hollis did something that was probably the best and worst thing to do. She took a running jump- jumping higher than expected- and fastened her arms around the troll's neck. It didn't notice her hanging there, but even a Mountain Troll will notice if you stick a long piece of wood up its nose.

The troll shook its head and had somehow managed to grab Hollis's leg and swing her forward. Hollis's glasses flew off her face. She wasn't sure where they landed. All of the blood rushed to Hollis's head.

"Do something!" Hollis cried just as she pulled herself up, out of the club's way as the troll swung it in a pained frenzy. Hollis barely noticed Hermione's gasps and screams.

"What?" Ron asked helplessly.

"Anything! Hurry up!"

Hollis barely heard Hermione say to Ron timidly, 'swish and flick'. She was too busy hoisting herself upwards every time the troll swung its club at her face.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll started and then stopped, mystified. Hollis squinted and saw the club suspended in midair. She smiled in spite of herself. The club came back down and hit the troll on the head with a loud 'clunk'. The troll dropped Hollis, and the world righted itself. Hollis scurried backwards, being sure to grab her glasses, just as the troll teetered backwards. She felt Ron's strong arms pull her backwards just as the troll fell flat on its face.

Hermione came out from under the sinks, slowly, as if she wasn't sure of the troll's well being.

"Is it… dead?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Hollis shook her head as she put on her glasses. The lenses were cracked. "I think it's just knocked out," she said just as she got up and pulled her wand out of the troll's nose.

Something gluey and gray fell off of it great clumps. "Ew. Troll boogers," she said in disgust, wiping her wand off on the troll's ripped trousers.

Footsteps filled their ears. She, Hermione and Ron looked at each other. They hadn't realized the amount of noise they had been making. Moments later, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell were in the bathroom with them and the troll. Hollis looked around, trying to avoid the teachers' stares and this led to her sight landing on Snape's leg. Her eyes widened. It was bloody. Snape noticed her stare and quickly pulled his robe around it.

"Oh!" McGonagall said, clasping a hand to her heart. She rounded on them in an instant.

"Explain yourselves both of you!" she stuttered angrily. Hermione peered out bravely as Hollis and Ron floundered for an excuse.

"It's my fault Professor. I had heard about the troll and went off on my own, thinking I could handle it. I was wrong. If Holly and Ron hadn't found me, I'd probably be dead," Hermione said smoothly, with the right amount of guiltiness to make the lie more probable. Hollis and Ron tried to morph their faces to make it look like she was telling the truth, but it was hard, given the irony of he situation. Hermione telling a lie to a teacher? Laughable. No, impossible.

"Well in that case, I am very disappointed in you Miss Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for you serious lack of judgment," McGonagall said severely. Hermione hung her head.

"As for you two, I hope you realize at how fortunate you are. Not many first year students can take on a fully grown Mountain Troll and live to tell the tail. Five points will be awarded to each of you," McGonagall said before leaving. She mumbled something else to Snape but they didn't catch it. Quirrell smiled nervously.

"You should go. It might wake up," he stuttered.

All three of them left very quickly.

Hollis, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other then and smiled. Hermione got very close to Hollis and Hollis slung her arm around Hermione's shoulder. Ron gave a noncommittal grunt and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

Hollis just guessed that knocking out twelve foot trolls was one of the many ways you could make friends at Hogwarts.

***

October bled into November and all of a sudden, the weather became very cold. Frost was on the ground almost every morning and the lake had taken on the color of steel.

But the start of November marked the start of something else for Hollis. Quidditch season had begun. The first match of the season would be Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and that meant that Hollis would be playing in her first match.

Wood wanted to keep her secret but somehow, it had leaked out. She knew that Ron and Hermione hadn't told anybody. They had been sworn to secrecy with that and Hollis's status as an Elemental. But, it had leaked out. She didn't know which was worse, people telling her that she'd be brilliant or telling her that they'd have the tissues ready.

Hollis was very glad that Hermione was friends with her and Ron now. With her help, Hollis was able to get done all of her homework, even with the extra Quidditch practice Wood was scheduling in the wake of the first game. Hermione even lent her books about Quidditch- Hollis found these engrossing- and Elemental Magic. As was expected, both Ron and Hermione had questioned her silly about her powers but Hollis, who was unsure of the strange powers herself, didn't have very many answers to give them. Hermione, of course, had gone straight to the library, then morphing the inside joke 'When in doubt, consult a book'.

But Hollis wasn't very worried about answering Ron and Hermione's questions. She was more worried about the upcoming Quidditch match. Everything was ready. Her broom was in tip-top shape, her Quidditch robes had finally come in- the last Seeker had been strangely large and the robes were simply too large for her-, and her body was physically ready for this match. But mentally? Not in a million years.

As if sensing Hollis's unease, Ron and Hermione did everything in their ability to keep Hollis's mind away from the upcoming match. And this worked quite well, until Pavarti asked her if she was nervous about Saturday.

Hermione had given Pavarti an evil look when she asked that.

***

When Saturday finally came around, Hollis could barely sit still during breakfast. Her stomach was fluttering madly and she didn't know if it could handle food at that moment.

"You've got to eat something, Holly," Hermione nagged for what had to be the millionth time.

"I'm not hungry," Hollis said shortly.

"Just a bit of toast," Hermione coaxed. Hollis shook her head no.

"You should listen to Hermione, Holly. You need to keep up your strength. Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team," Seamus said brightly.

Hollis gave him a sour look. "Thanks Seamus."

He gave her a winning smile, not noticing the sarcasm in her voice.

***

Hollis was quiet as she changed into her Quidditch Robes. Katie Bell, another new team member, smiled at her encouragingly. Hollis returned the smile somewhat. She was still too overcome with nerves to do much else.

Wood cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Okay guys. This is it, the one we've all been waiting for," Wood started.

Hollis had to snicker as Fred and George mouthed each one of Wood's words. Wood glared at the two but Hollis could see the corners of his mouth twitch upward.

"This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win today. I can feel it," Wood said, looking at them all, his gaze lingering on Hollis a second longer than the rest of them.

Somewhere out in the stands, a horn blew very loudly.

"Alright, it's time. Good luck, all of you," Wood said as they exited the locker room.

Hollis felt very small when she walked onto the Quidditch pitch. It seemed that every student in the school was crammed into the stadium, watching. Hollis saw a banner that read 'Potter for President'- something that Hermione and Ron had done as a surprise for her no doubt- and was suddenly warmed. She felt braver, more confident.

Madame Hooch was in the center of the field. She was refereeing. She held the Quaffle under her arm and the crate containing the Bludgers and the Snitch was beside her right leg.

"Captains shake hands," Madame Hooch ordered briskly. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, and Wood shook hands but they quickly let go.

"Now, I want a nice clean game… from all of you," Madame Hooch barked, her eyes lingering on Flint. Hollis winced. Flint looked like he could have a bit of troll blood in him.

"Mount your brooms…"

They did.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle and through the Quaffle up the same they took off. She kicked the crate and the Bludgers erupted as did the Snitch, but no one, not even the Seekers, saw it fly away.

And the game began.

95


	10. Chapter 10

Here, this isn't a chapter but I'm answering some of the reviews I've gotten.

For those who think this is too much like the book, I am sorry. I'm trying to make this un-cannon like as possible. And I'm really not stupid. I do know that changing someone's name doesn't make them different. I should know.

And as for Danny, you don't really know much about him until the second story; that was preemptive. You'll see more of him later on.

And if it's so boring, why would you read it anyway? I'm not trying to be nasty, but I am trying. If you don't like it, then don't read it, that's my philosophy. And seriously, I am trying.

And don't worry, this isn't going to be a Hollis/ Draco story.

Thanks for the heads up about the whole too male thing HarryAnyPears. I wouldn't know how a guy would act since I'm not one. She is supposed to be a tomboy since I could see no other alternative. And I meant no harm! Please forgive me! Don't send your minions after me!

Thanks for all the reviews both good and constructive and I'll try my best.


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